Sonic Adventures:Kiroshioneze Attack: Chaos of One
by Misty the Hedgehog
Summary: 1 of 10. Eggman was rumored to have died when his ship collapsed, but that changed. Sonic now has to fight Eggman and a new alliance, for Espio's been turned into a bloodcrazed mutant. Will Espio be saved, or will Sonic die trying? Last Chapter Added! YAY
1. When Peace Turns To Curiosity

**_All original Sonic the Hedgehog character are (c) to Sega/Sonic Team, other characters and creaturesare (c) to me. Carmen Segado and Alexis Echidna Jr. are special guest characters (c) to their original owners._**

**Sonic Adventures: **

**Kiroshioneze Attack **

**The Chaos of One **

**Epilogue**

Though Chris has left the planet, the Metorix have been destroyed, and Dr. Eggman's ship has exploded, this is only the beginning.

_Sonic really has only been training for the many years he's been alive, and now, the beginning of a new war has come._

_The world he lives on is changing, changing back to an old culture that once roamed the planet of today._

_Sonic may not realize it, but him and his friends are now in the greatest danger of all time, and what lies beneath the planet is more than secrets of the past, they're hidden truths of their futures._

_He and his friends alone won't be able to stand a chance, especially in this turn back to the past that returns now._

_Sonic and friends, you need help, and you need it fast, help is there, you need to find it though. The only hopes are you and your findings and changes, protect one another, and save one another._

_He's back, and so is the culture with him…_

_---------_

_It wasn't long before I found Team Chaotix, who had something of mine that I've searched for a long while, finally, it's regained. Though everyone was separated, it wasn't long after that the Chaotix decided to visit Knux, I happened to follow them to see what they were up to, but instead of helping myself and them at the same time, I discovered that what I did, led them somewhere else, a new change, this was a settled up trap…_

**Chapter 1:**

**When Peace Turns To Curiosity**

There was peace at the city, and everything was at normal, yet the sounds of everyday life were about. What really was good was the fact that no more harmony was to be disturbed, especially for our sacred heroes of the world. Or, was there still a sense of disturbance that couldn't be tracked?

They all went their separate ways, figuring they didn't need one another anymore, although, they still lived in the same city together, just in various places, except for a few that needed to be elsewhere, one place was Angel Island.

Knuckles only sat in silence, only thinking of the memories that were the past, the past of misery that they're finally out of. Nothing came to him of danger, not even his rival coming to bug him of some sort of displeasing helloes, which was sometimes what Sonic would do without warning. His heart only beat like a steady wave of the ocean in the summer breeze below him, and his eyes lie underneath his lids at rest, he of course was nearly at rest, until the sound of a stick broke.

His eyelids flew open, his eyes looking right at the stick that broke in front of him, it didn't move. He kept his eyes straight at it, trying to see if it would vibrate to signify of a intruder standing on it, he seen no vibration, and closed his eyes again.

Crack! This time he looked at the same stick and noticed it was cracked again, at this point, he stood up and crossed his arms in annoyance. He then knew exactly who it was, and like anyone else, he finally then spoke with a look of irritation.

"Alright now, I know you're here, you can stop playing hide and seek." Knuckles spoke staring at the broken twig and above.

A figure then appeared out of camouflage, and stood with a small grin, of course, Knuckles knew the only person he knew that could do such a thing was Espio himself, but why alone?

"Don't worry, I wasn't gonna harm you even if you weren't invisible." Knuckles laughed, "But why are you here alone."

"Actually I'm not alone, Charmy and Vector are hiding behind those bushes over there." Espio pointed out, seeing Vector's green face nearly turning red.

"You weren't supposed to let him know we were here!" Vector cried out.

Knuckles laughed a little, even though he haven't seen these guys in a while, he still felt a little troubled, he then noticed a small scar on Espio's left arm. About when he was about to ask where he got it, Charmy loudly spoke a comment that stopped Knuckles from asking.

"We found a Chaos Emerald, and we thought we'd let you have it to guard." Charmy thoughtfully said to him, "At least no we know that that bad man Eggman is gone."

"Don't count your eggs before they hatch Charmy," Knuckles advised, "Means we heard he was missing and could possibly be dead doesn't mean he's dead for sure, he may still be out there watching us all."

"That is true, he could still be planning something." Vector agreed, "But why are you here alone?"

Knuckles only sighed, "Isn't every Guardian suppose to be alone?"

"No way man, you need to keep in touch with you r friends, like us!" Charmy cheerfully told him, "Not everyone should be alone."

"Also, why do you want me to keep this Emerald?" Knuckles asked holding the red Chaos Emerald he got from Charmy.

"Because you just need it you know." Vector said, "Besides…"

"Now hold it, what if Eggman were to appear?"

"Then you can always tell him that it's fake." Charmy laughed.

Knuckles only shook his head only in shame, he was about to try again about the small cut, but again was interrupted by Vector.

"But hey, have you seen a white dog run around?" Vector asked.

"Why would I be looking for a dog?" Knuckles asked in confusion.

"Because originally we would've gave you two emeralds, but a white dog came out of nowhere and took our yellow Chaos Emerald, or I mean your Emerald." Charmy stated.

"Hmm, odd, why would something like that take a valuable gem?" Knuckles questioned to him and the other two.

"Because that wasn't just a pure white dog." Espio started to explain, "That dog had a blue colored stomach and blue markings on it's head, legs and its fox-like tail, this one snatched it from my hands so quick and so close to me, it left a small scratch on my shoulder, and bolted out of sight in less than a second."

That answered Knuckles two questions, Espio's scar, and what kind of a dog it was, this was something not ordinary, although it still didn't answer why it wanted it. Knuckles pictured the strange dog in his head, but yet the only problem was what's the shape of it. For being fast, he though, long legs and a thin middle was part of his answer, but what about the rest. Not wanting to ask, he then moved on.

"I'll look into this, this may be a sign." Knuckles stated as he looked at the Master Emerald, "Can you guys guard this while Espio and I look into this case?"

"What, why us?" Vector asked loudly, "I mean, we are good detectives, but guards, the last time we ever guarded something, we ended up having it stolen right out of our hands by something we don't even know what it was."

"Just try, and besides, the Master Emerald is not going anywhere but down if removed from that altar, we'll be back soon." Knuckles ended and glided into the forest with Espio trailing closely behind.

"Awe, now we have to stay here, I told you we should've brought something to do to keep us busy." Charmy complained.

"Shut up Charmy." Vector told him, "And besides, we need to guard this Emerald, not just roam around it.

So Vector and Charmy finally sat on the steps of the altar, and waited.

-------------

Knuckles followed Espio while in flight, since he figured him and his two other teammates flew here by plane, and of course he didn't know where it was. Dodging branches, jumping over holes, and cutting a pathway out, Espio ran without staggering troubles, his gold eyes pin-pointing the direction he's going, he never took his eyes off the path to look at Knuckles, who was fighting through canopy leaves and some birds who wouldn't move. Greenness was all around, rarely any blue of sky, and the reflection of the river on the sides of their sight, the only thing that surrounded them was trees, bushes, branches, and herbs, this made both of them inpatient to find out what this strange dog creature actually was, the info still frequented in Knuckles head, white dog, blue underside, blue markings, thin in middle, and long legs, all this started to make him actually see blue instead of green.

After moments later, they reached the aircraft, just by a two-tailed logo, this plane was either borrowed, or snuck away from, this was not a unknown aircraft, this was really Tails' Tornado. Knuckles stared at Espio for a while, while Espio stared back while his back turned to him. The aircraft just by where it was at, was about to crash into the tree in front of it, the drag marks were a hint that whoever controlled it was about to get them all killed, luckily, it was only a few inches away from the large trunk.

"Vector told me to take it, so don't complain to me." Espio said as he turned and jumped into the plane, adjusting some controls.

"Want me to push it into the other direction?" Knuckles asked.

"With your strength and with a pathway already made, why not?" Espio nodded.

Knuckles inched between the nose of the aircraft and the trunk, then with a little might, he moved it to a farther part of the cleared pathway, while Espio used the control stick to help turn the plane around so that the nose was facing away from the tree. After the set up was complete, Knuckles hopped into the back and belted himself in.

"I still don't get how you can control this." Knuckles remarked.

"From the city to here, it was Vector who nearly killed us all, he didn't believe I could control a aircraft, but really I can, so just hang on tight and we'll head to the city." Espio informed as he activated the engine. The engine screeched a little, then roared with the propellers rotating rapidly in seconds. The boosters in back ignited, and the leaves stirred around like birds in flight out of fright. Espio then accelerated the aircraft slowly while on ground, and then put full force to it, taking to the air at full speed at the opening. Knuckles belt wasn't secure, so he ended up nearly flying out of the aircraft at full speed.

"Damn it Espio, slow down before I come back to kick your ass to next week!" Knuckles yelled as he held on to the seat of his passenger chair.

Espio only ignored him and kept his speed increasing, Knuckles then himself pulled in and carefully pulled down the pilot shield down, so no wind would take him away. Securing his belt once and again, he then sat with only frustration in his mind, while staring at Espio's back of the head.

"You know, you could've mentioned putting the shield down." Knuckles sighed.

"I know, but I thought you were gonna do it since I was already in." Espio laughed a little.

"You have most of the controls!" Knuckles complained, "I'm only a passenger, I can rarely do anything except help you in a few odds and ends, but not like that…"

"Hold on a minute." Espio noticed a small reflection fly across the shield, then looking over his left shoulder, a red aircrafts that was smaller flew beside theirs, and Tails sat inside of it, glaring at them.

"Looks like we're busted." Espio said.

"No Espio, you're busted." Knuckles laughed.

"Espio you thief!" the intercom went on with Tails voice speaking, "Exactly why did you steal my Tornado!"

"Because I needed Knuckles, so Vector, Charmy, and I went to get him." Espio replied.

"Where are they?" Tails asked furiously.

"Back at Angel Island," Knuckles replied while trying to pull himself up a little, "I told them to sit by the Master Emerald and keep watch."

"Okay, you guys get that Tornado safely onto the ground at my place, and I'll be back, Tails out." The intercom then went dead, with Tails turning his aircraft around, headed to Angel Island. Espio sighed with relief.

"Well, at least we didn't get hit hard."

"You mean you, cause I had nothing to do with this." Knuckles told him, "But lets get back to the city and look for that dog you described."

"Right."

Quickly Espio activated the boost packs, and lowered the craft more closer to the ocean, Knuckles held tight to the seat because of the speed went fast enough for him to take. The waves rising as it flew across, soon then back behind the craft the waves fell, and peace was at the ocean again.

-------------

"I'm bored." Charmy complain as he yawned.

"Be happy that you have company Charmy." Vector notified him, "Cause usually lonely people have the most difficulty being alone and complain a lot."

"Like Knuckles?" Charmy asked.

"Um, sorta, only he doesn't really care for people, but, no more of that…"

"Vector! Charmy!" a voice yelled out of no where, scaring the two harshly, both fell down the stairs of the altar, heads banged, and their body weakened some. After the tumble, Charmy ended underneath Vector's back, which didn't even notice until Charmy stung him. Vector cried loudly, clinching his back in pain, Charmy then scrambled out of the way and sat, wheezing for air, moments then Tails stood behind Charmy, arms crossed, and his two tails ruffed up with great irritation, rage building up, his blue eyes turning dark in the midst of madness and stress, ears lied back behind his head, and a grimace on his face.

"Why in hell did you have to take my Tornado just to get here?" Tails scowled at them.

"Because we needed Knuckles urgently, and you weren't home." Charmy coward as Tails stood behind him, "It was all Vector's idea!"

"What? You were in this too!" Vector debated, "So was Espio!"

"Not really, at least he was being consistent instead of fighting with one another. Unlike you two."

"Well he went with Knux, so he's the one you should be complaining to." Vector told him, towering over, his jaws nearly clamping Tails in them.

"You can stop blaming it on him, he's doing something important, and I'll take care of you while you're here with me." Tails said while coarsening up his arms while staring angrily at Vector. Charmy again scrambled out of the way between the two and hid behind the stairway of the altar, and only watched with his head barely above the side.

-------------

The craft landed peacefully by Tails house, and all engines, boosters, and shield generators shut down. The pilot shield slowly opened and Espio and Knuckles jumped out and onto the ground with a small thump of their feet landing. Espio rose a little and stared at the coastline of the shore, which didn't look far to travel fro where they were. His fist clinched, and his gold eyes nearly turning a dark brown from frustration. Knuckles rose also, staring at Espio's backside, wondering why he's even staring at the Oceanside. Knuckles soft violet eyes soon started to fade to dull lavender. Knuckles then became annoyed and set his hand on Espio's shoulder.

"Can we get on with this case?" Knuckles asked?

Espio looked at Knuckles hand, then turned and walked away, "Let's do so, it's starting to get dark out."

Knuckles then followed him, his face slowly descended to a small frown, wondering if anything was wrong with Espio, of course, he thought, he must be angered about the dog, but why? After moments of thinking, Knuckles regained his mind, and looked to his right, before he took another step, he froze, and his whole face went pale instantly. Espio noticed the silence of his footsteps and turned to see him, seeing his face told him only one thing, he found it; he found the dog that roamed here. Espio approached him cautiously, and then looked at the same direction Knuckles stared at, his thought was wrong, it wasn't it; it wasn't the dog at all.

_I stayed at the island, and that was a mistake, I should've followed them, but I learned from it, and stayed with the three until I showed up once and again into another one's sight…_


	2. The Capturing

**Chapter 2:**

**The Capturing**

After the fighting, Tails and Vector gave in and sat in exhaustion, the sky went dark, stars shown brightly, and Charmy was asleep. The leaves hung still, and nothing in the air was alive, and the Master Emerald shown dimly in reaction to the night and day. Tails and Vector sat with large bruises, bite marks, and cuts all over their body. Vector collapsed to the ground and stared seamlessly at the ground, one eye worn out, while the other still alive. Tails curled up in his two tails to keep warm and stared at Vector, both arms bruised and bleeding, his head banged and cut, he then collapsed on his side.

"Okay, lets give, it's dark, Charmy's out, and we're both shredded up, plus, it's been a while since Espio and Knuckles have been gone." Tails said as he breathed harshly.

"Right, lets rest." Vector agreed as he rolled onto his back, and then quickly went to sleep.

Tails sat up a little, looked at Vector, the trees that faded to a misty green color, then the faded Emerald, which also had a red silver Chaos Emerald sitting in front of it. Tails recline on the ground again, also staring at the stars. With his lip bleeding annoyingly, he licked his lip and closed his eyes. An unusual crackling sound was being made above him, after moments, Tails ignored it for a while, until an immense branch fell on his stomach.

"Yeow!" Tails cried out with great intensity, his eyes flew open in shock and throbbing hurt. Vector woke up startled, while Charmy flew up awake in surprise.

"Whoa? What happened?" Charmy asked while spinning around to see all around of him.

"Help…" Tails screeched quietly, the large branch heavily sitting on his stomach.

Vector quickly moved the branch off of Tails, and looked at him, seeing a dark blue and black bruise made right across his stomach. Tails whimpered as the pain stung into him like needled being pushed into that particular spot. Both Charmy and Vector stared with surprise. Charmy looked up and seen a white dog stood above them, Charmy then cried out loud.

"There it is! It's that dog that took our Emerald!" Charmy pointed.

Vector looked up, the sight only made him wonder. The dog stood there still, right by a broken stem, where the branch was. This was like what was told to Knuckles, but this wasn't an ordinary dog, this almost looked like a collie, but the blue markings and all told him that this dog was something else, and that was definitely proven.

It smiled a little and jumped down, like a fox, it quietly walked up to Tails, but like a wolf, glared a little at the same time. It placed its paw on Tails stomach, and then closed it's eyes. A quick glow shimmered over Tails, then flashed. All of Tails' bruises and cuts were gone. Tails stared at himself in shock, Vector and Charmy both turned at the dog with open mouths and a blank face. It gave a smile back, and then ran away into the dim and dark forest.

"It, it healed me I think." Tails said in shock.

"Why couldn't it heal me?" Vector complained, "I'm wounded by you too!"

"Wait…" Charmy wondered, "If that's what was told to Knuckles, then where are they?"

Everyone shrugged, but didn't bother to answer and went to sleep.

-------------

Espio and Knuckles scrambled to a corner and ran as fast as they could, their faces dim and pale, after what they seen, they're running for their lives. Knuckles ahead, and Espio closely behind, both tried to run ahead of one another. Knuckles once in a moment looked behind his back to see Espio's distance from him then looked forward to keep running. Espio then nearly forgetting his ability grinned a little, with his special ability, he then disappeared out of sight, Knuckles stopped and looked behind him, Espio disappeared from his sight, and Knuckles was alone.

"Espio! Don't leave me damn it!" Knuckles bellowed while running again in a different direction frantically.

Espio turned around and stood, waiting for the chaser to show, moments later, it never did. He shook his head in shame, then reappeared, which was one mistake he should've never done, only a second later was he attacked from behind. Espio was shoved into a brick wall furiously, and was pinned there. Claws blemished his arms, blood spurting out, and pain grabbing a hold of him. Espio tried to fight, but whatever held him, kept clawing him on the sides, even more blood bled out, so he gave and didn't even dare to fight back anymore, knowing that no help now was around, or at least for the moment. His heart started to slow down, his eyes blurring after the loss of blood, was he dying already? His back then ached, finally telling him he was being either eaten by, or something else. A pain then struck him hard, near the neck, which made Espio howl loudly, almost like a wolf in need of help, loud enough for Knuckles to hear.

Knuckles heard Espio's howl and ran back, following his sound and carefully took turns that led him close, until one turn was one too close. There standing with Espio pinned to the wall, was like a hedgehog, but a demon at the same time. Four large wings were partly spread out, many quills behind the hedgehog's head glowed in green, and its markings looked a lot like Shadow's red markings. Three horns were stabbed into Espio's back, or at least by the look of the darkness it was. Knuckles froze when he noticed that he was noticed, the creature looked at him with white demented eyes glowing dimly. Knuckles partly raised his fist at the creature in rage for injuring Espio severely, his eyes pin pointing the creature's center. Bang! Knuckles head was hit, his sight fading out, then collapsed, nothing was heard, nor seen for him.

-------------

Tails woke up again, hearing another strange sound of bushes rustling, he quickly sat up and looked around, then behind him, the dog was back, this time, it wasn't panicking, more like excitement. Tails tried to figure out what it was trying to tell him, whimpering, howling, fast stepping, and bouncing the dog did. Tails then figure it had to follow it. At the same time Vector and Charmy woke, and seen Tails just getting up.

"Guys get up, it's trying to tell us something." Tails told them, "Hurry!"

Without a word, both got up and followed Tails and the dog. The dog went at a speed where all of them can stay at until they finally got to Tails red aircraft. The dog then strangely formed wings that were folded when revealed, the colors the feathers were were shades of blue, which shown nicely in the moonlight.

"It wants us to follow it by plane?" Tails wondered.

"But what about…" Charmy asked partly.

"No time, lets go." Vector said jumping in back of the plane.

Tails quickly jumped into the pilot seat and activated the engines, and then Charmy sat in behind Vector, and belted up quickly. The dog took air, with Tails trailing behind, gaining speed, the more the speed increased, although the problem was though, was that the faster the dog went. Charmy took a look behind the seat, and noticed that the island was in a shield, he didn't mention anything about it and sat quietly. Tails followed the dog without a word, until a larger aircraft revealed from some clouds above them, this was more like a spacecraft than anything.

"Wow, look at that!" Charmy pointed out.

Tails looked up for a moment, the seen the dog was flying towards it. He then followed it.

"Hold on, looks like we're going up." Tails warned them as he pulled back his steering stick.

The craft then opened a landing flap, and the dog flew in it, Tails trusted this dog and decided to fly in. Slowly then the flap shut behind them.

-------------

The room was dark, rarely any lights shown, the blurriness soon went clear, the first thing that was seen first was a black ceiling, or at least that is what he thought it was. He moaned in pain, a headache hit him hard, and he still felt dead after the hit. He rolled over on his side, his elbow holding him up by only a little, while his other hand rubbed his head. After a moment, he then sees in front of his face thick, black bars that streamed up and down all around him. He sat up quickly and looked around hysterically, seeing he was surrounded by what looked like cellar bars, his first thought was he was a prisoner. He looked around and found no entrance or exit, no keyhole or lock, no escape. He tried with his strength pulling the bars apart, but these were more durable then he can handle. He tried a punch, but he nearly broke his fist just for that one time. He tried biting, but the bars were definitely hard enough. He then last tried body slamming, but failure was all that came, along with pain to the right side shoulder down. Failure was all; he couldn't escape, but what about Espio?

He got up and looked around, there was nothing around except glass bottles, burners, injections, and many machines, one of them held the one sign that Knuckles didn't want to see, Dr. Eggman's logo.

"Crap! He's still alive?" Knuckles said in shock, "Where's Espio is the problem also, so where could he be?"

"Oh he's alright for the moment." A rough and deep voice replied to Knuckles.

Knuckles spun around quickly, there was Dr. Eggman that stood, this time with a white scientist's cloak, and one eye-piece is replace with some sort of eye cam, this scared Knuckles, just by look of him still alive.

"How, how did you live?" Knuckles asked as he backed away nervously.

"I was actually saved." Dr. Eggman said, "Saved by someone that told me different."

Next thing Knuckles knew, a loud snarling and barking sound was close behind him, Knuckles jumped ahead in astonishment, and startled by it, taking no chances, he covered his head, fearing whatever was behind him was going to kill him, like maybe even Espio. He then heard Dr. Eggman's laugh in front of him.

"You know, you are in a cage of the hardest metal in the world." Dr. Eggman told him, "So it's safe for you for now."

Knuckles looked behind him, and stood up still in fear, letting his arms slide a little from his head. The snarling was coming from a creature with the looks like himself, but more in a pit bull form. Black was its fur color, along with white feet that revealed sharp claws that exposed in the light. Knuckles then looked back at Eggman, the thought of Espio's maybe death angered him.

"What did you do with Espio you rounded bastard!" Knuckles hollered at him.

"He's still alive, but he won't remember you after I'm done with him." Eggman cackled a little, "In fact he'll be thinking of you as fresh meat when he sees you."

Knuckles face went white, the thought, what does he even mean by that?

"Let me explain my story." Eggman started.

_With Tails behind me, I knew that the time had come to actually reveal what is truly happening, since me and my cousin have a close relation and have been about them for a while, I thought to myself that no one was now safe, and everyone needed to know, before it was too late, even though Knuckles is the first to hear, the others needed to know also, and I'm willing to accept the fact that the time has come for the truth to unravel in peace or war…_


	3. The Story from Machines to Mutants

**Chapter 3: **

**The Story from Machines to Mutants**

Eggman pulled up a seat and Knuckles sat on the ground, listening with curiosity running in his mind.

"After Chris left the planet, and after the total defeat of the Metorix, you all seen that my ship exploded without warning, well, before that happened, a creature came from behind the doors of my craft, this was a dark creature, but yet looks friendly at first sight, like a large dog of darkness. Anyhow, this creature's name was Quazaireon, the creature that possesses many curses is what he put it as, he and I had a little chat, and he said things that I'd thought I'd never hear.

"He said, 'what you're using is not even worth the try, Sonic can go against any machine you build and kill it instantly, you're basically making him stronger and making him learn from his mistakes. What you need to do is change, change from you machinery that's useless and go for something that Sonic has never put up with, like mutants.' I was interested, by the sound of his idea, he sounded serious. He then continued, 'Sonic I know for a fact doesn't know anything about mutants, because they're hard to estimate, each mutant has special stats, but they're hard to kill, especially if they're your own friends.' At this point, I then knew exactly what he was planning, to a certain point. He told me more, 'Doctor Eggman, I live where Sonic lives, and there's a culture called Kiroshioneze that lives there, it has been for many many years. This culture is known for special methods and secrets about your world, and relates with mutants, only these are natural ones.'

"I kept my eye on him the whole time, especially when he started to explain the plan, 'Here's what I suggest, you stop with your machine plans, and agree to go from now on with mutants as attackers, and I can help you catch a few of Sonic's friends for start on the plan, which is, to nag all of Sonic's friends, and create new mutants, and be able to send them all at Sonic, the Kiroshioneze of the Dark will send great power to Sonic once he's been damaged enough, that power is dark energy, and that will bring Sonic's dark and evil side out, from this point, no hope is left for the world, you will have it. I would though would like to mention…'

"At this point, this is what slowed us down, and what made me concerned, 'The Kiroshioneze of the Light have what is known as Traveling Earthesens, these are people that possess the power to transform, power-up, heal, and have telepathy abilities. But these abilities are in four special Emeralds that they hold, each contain one of four of those abilities. Out of the many of those travelers, there are at least twenty I know, and two of them that are well known. One in Misty RedFlame, who is known to be full Kiroshioneze, but people aren't sure because she has a brother that has the same rumor on his side. She will be a great help for Sonic, along with her cousin, the wolf boy Conore, who's also known to be Tails' older brother."

Knuckles then looked at Eggman in surprise, Tails' older brother? He thought, no, he couldn't have one.

Eggman continued: "He then continued, I though am very interested in this one, 'Conore's also what is known as a Shadow-back Werefox, like a werewolf, but much stronger, after comparing him to Knuckles, Conore could easily kill him without warning, and on special occasions, like a eclipse, he'll even be more stronger and harder to tame.' He told me that he's one of very few that could kill Misty, but he also mentioned that they have more then one life right beside them. He also mentioned another fellow that is here in this ship, 'Damion's the other one I should mention, he and Misty are a lot alike, and have a close relationship, although I wouldn't bother trying to mutate him, he's a demon-hog, and he is also known as a gothic, so he's one you might want to look at too. He's a weakness of Misty's, and his weakness is her also, she'll do anything to keep him alive, and so would he for her.' After that, he asked if I'd agree to the plan, and I did, but the only way it was going to work was if I'd get a head start and disappear, go missing after a certain period of time, I agreed again, so he took me to a secret and abandoned base where old scientists were evaluating the mutants of the past, during that trip, everything on the old ship and the ship itself were destroyed."

"But how did you build all this after almost seven months?" Knuckles asked.

"That's what the hiding was for," Eggman continued, "You see him and I were able to get in contact with Damion, telling him that Misty was rebelling against everyone and will destroy everyone, he believed us, and found us, after getting him on our side, the Kiroshioneze of the Dark helped me and my work, a lord called the Demon Phoenix told me more about the culture, so I understood it quickly and seen the purpose of the Light and Dark sides. I also was able to practice on Damion, in which surprisingly, he was also a Traveling Earthesen, so everything was easy, and now, I'm continuing on with that plan."

"And he'll stay with it." Another voice spoke up, Knuckles turned his head to find a black, white, and purple colored creature walking into the room. His tail was a pearlecent of black and purple, with large ears, his black coating floating in the air, while the white was like normal fur, only the back and some shoulder was covered by the dark and wavered fur. His eyes were nearly opposite, but the pupils and iris were pure white. A small grin came upon his face when he seen Knuckles sitting in he cellar.

"You're Quazaireon!" Knuckles shouted as he threw himself to the bars like a prisoner from an actual prison, "Why did you do this?"

"Because," he said grimly with a smile, "The dark will rise again, and the Kiroshioneze War number five will end with the Dark in the winner circle, and this world will belong to him and the Demon Phoenix. You my friend will soon join us, and will never return to your normal selves again."

"You bastard!" Knuckles hollered.

"Now, Dr. Eggman, Espio's ready, how about we let Knuckles suffer and make him see what will happen to him."

"What? What are you gonna do to him!"

"That's for us to know and for you to find out." Eggman laughed as he left the room.

"No!" Knuckles cried out.

_I ran to my cousin, telling the arrival of Tails, he went by the entrance and waited, I sat and went to Knuckles by thought again, this time, I listened well, and figured that the time has come for him to see one of his only friends disappear, and to me, that is never a good thing, since this is being down between two friends…_

_I pray Nirinia, let them keep the friendship close, and never forgotten by change…_


	4. The Suffering of the Mutation

**Chapter 4: **

**The Suffering of the Mutation**

The aircraft landed on a lighten circle, and everyone hopped out, Vector brushing himself off, and Charmy spinning around in circles. Tails looked around for the white dog, and finally found it, but not alone.

What stood by it was a older two tailed fox, with a little larger ears, black glasses that strapped around his head, three to nearly four bangs above his face, a white shirt with a ammunition belt strapped around his left shoulder and around his waist, a remote like communicator on his left side on the belt, a strange designed bracelet on his right wrist, dark gray jeans, and nicely designed shoes that almost looked like Shadow's shoes just by the fact he sees boosters on the bottom. Tails also noticed he also has blue eyes the almost exact same color as his own. Tails slowly approached him, taking caution, even though the dog beside him healed him before.

"Welcome, I've been expecting you Miles." He said sounding like an ordinary sixteen year old.

"Miles!" Tails said in shock, "How do you know my real name?"

"I'm telepathic." He said with a small smile, "Sorry to anger you so much."

"Really, how old am I?"

"Ten years."

"What's my last name?"

"Prower."

"Um, my most used aircraft for battle?"

"The X-Tornado."

Tails stood in shock; he only stared at the older fox, and wondered. He then finally gave out his name.

"Name's Conore Wakison." He smiled.

"Miles Tails Prower." Tails said as he shook hands with Conore.

"And we are Vector and Charmy." Vector introduced.

"And this is Misty." Conore said pointing at the white dog.

"Pretty." Charmy said looking at the dog.

"Where's your chameleon Espio?" Conore asked.

Vector and Charmy stared at one another for a moment, then looked back at Conore, "We don't know."

Conore shook his head, "Should've asked where they were headed."

"Or what if someone were to kill them." A female voice spoke.

They all looked around, but no one was around.

"Who's here?" Tails shouted.

"Gesh, no need to shout, I'm actually closer than you think I am."

Tails looked around more, while Misty yawned loudly enough, it matched the liking of the female's voice, Tails then looked at Misty, figuring out it was Misty, who was actually the one talking to them.

-------------

Knuckles sat in despair, and depressed that what was a plan was actually functioning right, this was not good, if only he could escape to warn the others and Sonic. He sat still, his head low, his hands still gripping the bars, and kneeling in misery. Quazaireon sat by the doorway, watching him, seeing what his reactions would be, and then soon after, Dr. Eggman came through. Knuckles head didn't even move, he instead only sighed.

"Knuckles, I'd suggest you save your tears for what you're about to see." Eggman said as shackles were placed on Knuckles wrists, "Besides, you may never remember him again."

"Come on now, you guys have about ten minutes to talk without pain." Quazaireon said.

Eggman opened the cellar with a remote, and Knuckles slowly stepped out, his head rose only a bit just to see his footing and where he was going, but not to look at either Eggman or Quazaireon. The creature that scared him earlier stayed where it was at as Knuckles walked out, and didn't even make a sound to let him know that it was still there. Then they moved out of the room, and down the hallway. Knuckles' head rolled with questions and miserable thoughts, nonstop, thinking that Eggman has finally done something that works instead of guessing his way out. Knuckles though tough, was about to see one of his best friends disappear right before his eyes, not just physically, but also mentally, he won't be able to speak to him ever again with memory. Mutation then entered his mind; his first thought was like shape shifting, which is probably what was about to happen, but how? He didn't even bother thinking about it, and moved on with the thought of maybe never seeing his friends and rivals again. Sonic was basically right now the only hope to find this Misty and Conore, before everyone is captured, and will hopefully find out about what Eggman explained to him. Would Sonic though be able to do this all in less then the time it'll take for success? Would Misty and Conore find out before even he himself is next? Questions, questions, questions. Too many of them rolled into mind, so then he fell blank in thoughts, and continued to walk in silence, until they came to a large door.

Eggman punched in a password, which was accepted, and led in both Quazaireon and Knuckles in, Knuckles looked around for a moment, and before he put his head back down, at the corner of his eye, he spotted Espio, who looked like he was killed, and hung by the wrist on the wall, this must have been after he was attacked, he thought, he looks terrible, this is terrible.

Eggman put Knuckles in a cell that was connected to Espio's, and unshackled him, then shut the door to the cell.

"You and Espio have ten minutes." Eggman told them as he released Espio that was hanging in chains. Espio dropped to his knees, and held his chest, pain striking him furiously, like daggers trying to kill him. Eggman and Quazaireon then quickly left and shut the door, Espio and Knuckles were alone.

Knuckles scrambled over to the right side where Espio's cell was at and held a bar with one hand, and used the other one to support his other side. Espio looked over at Knuckles and crawled over helplessly, blood left behind as he dragged himself, the blood was coming from his side, which was damaged bad enough from the rapid attacks. He then pulled himself up using the bar Knuckles held, he then gave the impression of being nearly dead to Knuckles, his hand above his.

"Knuckles, no matter what happens to me, you know how long we've been friends." Espio said weakly, "Don't let Eggman get to you, what he's doing will only be once, he'll never do it again, he a bastard, a no good crook. Just let him take my life."

"Espio no!" Knuckles entitled, "You will not let him take your life, you're already in his hands, and you need to fight back, you hate him! I won't let you just step down and let him turn you into something that'll go against us, I won't!"

"Knux," Espio said harshly, "Just let him, it's you that must get out of here, you need to find help, and it's you that must save yourself and others, but it's not you that must get me out of this, this is my own thing to handle."

"No it isn't!" Knuckles argued, "Right now you maybe weak, but you need to fight back, please Espio, don't let yourself go like this."

"I can't, this time, he won over me, and I must accept the fact."

"Don't even Espio! You're one of my friends and I won't let you!"

"Let it be Knux, let him take me." Espio pleaded as his eyes slowly closed. Before he dropped to the floor, Knuckles clinched his arms and held him up on his knees, then shook him to wake him up.

"Espio! Don't you dare leave me you understand, remember, you hate Eggman more than anything! Don't let him win, if you even gave yourself a chance, just one bitching chance…"

"Times up my friends." Eggman said while opening the main door. Even though it felt like a shirt ten, it was actually only five minutes.

"Espio, fight! Don't even think about giving in!" Knuckles shouted.

"Just do what I told you Knux, just do it, please, for me, for your friends that care, leave me be." Espio said as he gripped Knuckles wrist weakly.

Eggman then pulled back Espio from Knuckles, held him to the wall by the neck, and stabbed Espio in the heart with a large injection, the only thing that came from Espio's mouth was nearly a high pitched howl of pain, that then turned into a choke, then nothing. His eyes shown no life, and Knuckles felt destroyed.

"No! Espio!" Knuckles shrieked.

Espio's eyes closed, and Eggman set him in the middle of the cell, and then turned and walked out the door, slamming it. Knuckles nearly collapsed at the sight of Espio.

-------------

Inside the large aircraft the five sat, Tails became so confused on how Misty could talk, then after a moment, she then spoke again.

"I'm not really a dog at all, although that is what I am currently right now." She said sitting by Conore, "In fact, I'm called a Traveling Earthesen, I'm one who can shape shift, heal, like I preformed earlier, I'm telepathic, which also gives me the ability to talk while in different forms, and I can power-up, like forming new wings for flight."

"Weird, so what is you form right now?" Charmy asked.

"A White-Blue FireFox." She answered.

"Huh?" Vector questioned.

"White, as in fur color, Blue, as in marking color, and FireFox, as in a type of rare dog." She restated.

"Oh! Now I get it." Tails understood.

"Sometimes though, the fur color and marking color change places just because it sounds better, like Black Ash-Red FireFox, which is actually a friend of mine's."

"So what are you in your true form?" Vector asked.

"A Blood Moon Hedgehog." She answered.

"What now?" Tails pondered.

"Blood, as in marking color, and Moon, as in black fur, and of course, a hedgehog."

"So you're black and red like Shadow the Hedgehog!" Charmy shouted.

"And actually, to be honest, I almost look exactly like him." Misty smiled.

"But females don't have quills." Tails told her.

"Actually that not true, it's a proven fact that thirty percent of the female hedgehogs have quills like either like Shadow's or Sonic's." Conore explained.

"Okay then, what are you?' Charmy asked Conore.

"Are you sure you want to ask that?" Conore asked back.

"Just tell us." Charmy said.

"A Shadow-back Werefox." Conore said while closing his eyes.

"Werefox? What is that?" Vector asked him in concern.

Conore laughed a little and shook his head, he then looked at Vector with a whole different expression one that told him it was something secret, "You never heard of that?"

"No I haven't, after about twenty three years, I still don't know." Vector said scratching his head.

"It's a wolf and a fox combined, like a werewolf." Conore said grinning.

"That I heard of though." Vector said, freezing, "How related is this werefox form of yours to a werewolf?"

"Instead of human, it's a fox like myself, and a wolf combined." Conore then pulled up his short sleeve on his right side and showed them a scar the size of Charmy's height. They stared at it for a long while, and then he then pulled it down and continued on: "If one is scared by a were, they guaranteed to become one themselves, but only at a certain age. I was actually born only partly, but that was only because I was suppose to be part Kiroshioneze, and I'll explain that later, anyways, I got scared by my own father and soon later at the age of ten did I start shifting. It's after a few years that you then get the power of shifting whenever, I finally got that ability at thirteen, from then on, I discovered my strengths and weakest points, by little bro was also scared before we had to abandon him after he was born, and after that, our mother was kill by my father, and I had to put up with him until at nine. And I hope that my bro will soon discover his form in peace, unlike me."

Tails then finally looked at his scar in almost the exact same spot as his, "Did he cut your bro's arm at the same spot?"

"I believe so." He replied, "That's also sometimes never a good sign. But that's life for you."

"I've also heard of weremeleons." Misty mentioned, "Conore, remember Topaz?"

"Oh yeah," Conore remembered, "One of our friends, Topaz Leonstone, is what she said was a weremeleon, a wolf and chameleon combined, these are the more stronger ones, but not as strong as the Shadow-back."

"Could Espio be one?" Charmy asked while chewing on gum he got from Vector.

"If he has a deep scar anywhere." Conore said, "Maybe even, without even being noticed, he could be one genetically, meaning, he was born to be one."

-------------

Knuckles sat by Espio's cell, staring at his body with sorrow eyes, finding it unreal for him to just give up after one harsh attack, although, he wouldn't blame him for it. He sat patiently, waiting for him to come alive again, after seeing choke like that, he figured he died from the injection, but what was the injection? For poisoning, no, paralysis, nope, he'd be able to speak, to tranquilize? Maybe, but it depends. He had more thoughts run to his mind, he avoided the mutating thought, since that's what it probably was for, was to mutate him. He then finally let his head hang low, but only for a moment, during that moment, his eye caught a twitch in Espio's finger, was he waking up?

"Espio?" Knuckles said while pulling his head up again and looking at him, he then spotted another twitch in his foot, then Espio's body finally came back to life, and by the looks of it, he was barely alright. He moaned slightly, and gripped his chest tightly, where the injection was placed, and was bleeding. Knuckles sat worriedly, wondering if after the injection was put in him. Espio slowly got on his knees and sat, not knowing Knuckles was beside him, that's when Knuckles tried again.

"Espio, are you alright?" Knuckles asked him.

Espio sat for a little while longer, then gazed over at Knuckles, his eyes no longer gold, more like a dull yellow with no sign of life, blood started to drip from his mouth, and his injection wound soon swollen, his whole chest nearly swollen after moments. Knuckles stared at him even longer, knowing there's no way of helping him.

"Knux, just stay away." Espio finally spoke turning his head back to the ground.

"Espio, please, are you alright?" Knuckles asked again.

"Just stay…away" Espio lastly said, then, a throbbing feeling started to rise in Espio, his heartbeat increased speed, and pressure erected up in his muscles, causing him to go into great pain. His breathing increased speed, this pain though instead of rising slowly, just came in a second, this pain to Espio, was going to kill him, and he fell on his side near Knuckles. Knuckles grabbed Espio's right hand, nearly trying to push through between the bars while trying to reach. Espio's reaction was to grip tight to Knuckles' hand, while holding his chest, and he then looked back up at Knuckles.

"Espio! Fight! Fight the mutation! Fight the damn mutation!" Knuckles hollered.

"I…can't!" Espio cried out, "I can't fight it, it's… it's…"

Espio's speech then became a roar and a screech combined, Knuckles held on more, until Espio's hands forms at the nails claws, which pierced through Knuckles' gloves, and caused Knuckles to stagger backwards. Gripping his hand tightly, blood rushed out, he then looked at Espio, who was then mutating.

Espio lied on the floor in almost a ball, the mutation reaction caused Espio to screech more than roar, his wounds faded, and some veins showed in the light, showing stress and force. His back became more bony, and the first thing that formed were four large demon wings, two of them formed at Espio's shoulder, while the other two formed just above his hip bones, his tail straightened, and formed a featuring end, while from Espio's bony back formed more thorns from neck to the end of the tail. The feathers disappeared, and revealed a sharp blade at the end. Bones popped and cracked, which were actually repositioning themselves, in more of an Amazon style. His shoes were torn and shredded by his new claws that unsheathed, plus his gloves ripped from enlargement of the hands, and two more horns grew right above the first horn. Markings started to reveal, and his mouth was filled with fangs, all of this was seen only by Knuckles himself.

He was done mutating, and lied on the ground, breathing heavily and deeply, nearly like a growl, Knuckles pinched himself with his own hands on accident on the wounds, and shrieked a little. Espio's eyes flashed open and gazed over at Knuckles, these eyes went from gold, to almost actual snake eyes. What Knuckles didn't notice was Espio's camouflaged third eye, which sat right above the first horn, when that eye opened though, Knuckles nearly jumped. A screech came from Espio, loud enough that Knuckles nearly went def for that moment, quickly he regained his balance, and was able to spot two strange snake like creatures coming at him, jaws open and coming at him fast. Knuckles quickly rolled out of the way, and the creatures ended up biting the bars. Then they disappear, back to Espio's body.

"Now that's a show!" a laugh cried out.

Knuckles looked up and seen Eggman and Quazaireon standing, laughing.

"You see Knuckles, you're meat to him." Eggman laughed again, "You won't ever see the original Espio ever again. Ever!"

"You son of a bitch!" Knuckles hollered.

"Guess you're on your own for this one." Quazaireon said as his eyes flashed a dark purple, this made the bars rise up, and this was no good sign at all.

Espio made a loud screech again, this time Knuckles ignored it and found that Espio's cell was open all along. He took a chance and ran after it. Espio quickly jumped in front of Knuckle, but strangely, in normal shape again. Knuckles jumped back, Espio followed him and pinned him down, then hissed at him. Claws were formed to grip Knuckles tightly, which hurt Knuckles hard enough, and Espio's feet had actually raptor like claws on his feet, and pinned his stomach, this started to annoy him because of the wounds.

"That's right, make him yours to feast on, or at least to make a member of ours." Eggman laughed continuously.

"Try this then." Knuckles reared up and kicked Espio to the other side where Knuckles cell was, hitting the bars hard on the back. He quickly jumped up and out the cell, and slammed the cell shut, right before Espio snapped and nearly clawed his face. Quazaireon was about to jump onto Knuckles until Knuckles backed up and punch him back nearly to the other side of the room, but into a pile of metal boxes that jumped and landed on top of him. Using a chair, he then knocked Eggman out by the head, Eggman dropped on his back, and a loud thump was made. Quickly he took one last look at Espio, Espio's eyes weren't normal, but demented, like the attacker of his, and he screeched at Knuckles, showing rows of fangs. Knuckles let down a tear in his eye, and ran out, locking the door behind him.

_I ignored the questioning from the four, and listened to Knuckles crying heart, hearing Espio's soul fade to near death, and seeing the darkness rise in him, this tempered me greatly…_

_I may not be normal now, but like I said earlier, this is only the beginning…_


	5. The Reunion

**Chapter 5: **

**The Reunion**

They sat, laughed, and told stories of the past, Vector nearly falling over laughing when Misty told a story of when he and some of her friends were in a catfight with one another. But only for a while, Charmy then spoke again about Knuckles and Espio.

"Ask Misty, she usually knows." Conore said looking over at her to find a startled look on her face.

"What is it?" Tails asked.

"Terror I feel." Misty stated, "Terror is inside, along with dark and evil, no memory, no actual friends, just orders, and the fact that…"

"Espio's gone!" a voice cried out.

Everyone looked over and seen Knuckles running to them in panic, all of them stood, and stared at Knuckles as he ran over in terror, cuts from Espio's claws, his face red from tears, this wasn't like Knuckles at all, this meant something. The sound of Knuckles saying that Espio was gone made Charmy and Vector wonder, so Vector grabbed Knuckled and shook him out of misery.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Vector asked viciously.

"Espio's gone! He's gone forever!" Knuckles cried.

"Misty." Conore glared over.

"What he means is that…" Misty stopped for a moment, and then sighed, "He mean's Espio's now and forever, a mutant."

"What!" Tails, Vector, and Charmy shouted, "A mutant!"

"He's evil, and he's back!" Knuckles cried, "Eggman's back, and he's gonna take us all, there's no hope!"

"Except for the suffering humans here." Misty finished, "Eggman must have joined with Quazaireon, and began a plan many months ago."

"Looks like we'll need Sonic and the rest for this one," Tails thought, "He'll handle them."

"He won't be able to." Conore said, "At least not with you guys."

"What? What do you mean?" Tails asked with a glare.

"You guys will need us, Misty and I are gonna be your biggest help." Conore said, "Sonic for a fact can handle machines, but ask yourself this question, if he can take on machines, does he know anything about his friends being meat-eating mutants?"

-------------

Night City Moonlight Café was where everyone met. Knuckles and the others were there, Sonic, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Rouge, and amazingly Shadow showed up, along with some of Misty and Conore's friends like Lakia Dakiaso, a black cat that's a girlfriend of Conore's. Kris Sonori, also a werefox, but a girl fox with great friendships with Lakia. Aaron Flumoré, also a werefox with almost the same strengths as Conore's. Marie Thorestare, a green and red echidna that has a passion for odd creatures and the Kiroshioneze culture, and is also a medical nurse. And two hedgehogs, Lighter Sakaria, a yellow and red hedgehog with a high attitude, Canaras Curvonoue, a silver hedgehog that's a partner of Marie's at the hospital and is also a rock star lead singer, and even Topaz Leonstone showed up, who's a blue and dark blue marked chameleon that was earlier talked about.

The owner of the Café was Mellony Windmare, who's a gothic fox who used to date Conore back then, but is still good friends with him, stood up on the counter and called silence to everyone.

"Okay people," Mellony called out, "Right now we've got a major crisis, for one, Eggman's been discovered alive and…"

"What! I thought he died!" Amy cried out.

Everyone began complaining then, "Eggman's alive?" "Oh Crap, what's up now with him?" "What should we do?" Mellony then whistled loudly, this silenced everyone again; Cheese was the last to make a sound after the whistle was made. Mellony then tried again.

"As I was saying, and also, without disturbance, Knuckles as a witness, discover Eggman's plan, and has seen it happen right in front of his eyes, and if you're wondering where Espio is…"

"He's a mutant now!" Charmy called out, "Espio's a mutant no thanks to Eggman."

"Yeah right, since when would Eggman do that?" Sonic said while reclining on a chair.

"Since I have seen it!" Knuckles hollered.

"And we can show it to." Misty said with a smile, she then grabbed Knuckles and sat him down, then put a strange digital helmet on him, "This is a sightseer, it'll show you all what he seen happen to Espio, since you Sonic don't believe it."

"I do, just how and why." Sonic stated.

"Oh just watch." Misty said while jumping down with Mellony behind her.

The sightseer made Knuckles of course close his eyes, a picture then came starting with before Espio was injected. The sight of how damaged Espio was was all a shock to every one, nearly killed they all thought. The part with the injection stunned them all, then after moments, the mutation was shown, and nearly half of the group fainted, some didn't even react, and the others cried in fear, except like Shadow of course, along with Canaras who stood by him. The picture then disappeared, and Knuckles opened his eyes once again, and Misty removed the helmet.

"Now we all know what will happen to us if we're caught, I'm surprised Knuckles managed to escape from that." Misty commented.

"Plus, we don't know what else he's got up his sleeve." Cream cried.

"Now, now people, over half of us are Traveling Earthesens, so we can handle these things sometimes. Especially someone like Marie."

"I do though know already what Eggman put into Espio anyways." Marie said with a smile.

"You do?" Rouge asked.

"Really, then what is it?" Shadow spoke while standing in front of Marie.

"In fact, I've used it before, this is actually suppose to me a chemical that suppose to be pain free, but what Eggman did was to make both Knuckles and Espio suffer, emotionally and physically, so, I could make a antidote that someone could risk taking over."

"Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!" Misty cried out and fell over off of the counter beside Mellony's feet.

"As usual." Marie laughed.

"Now hold on, what if whatever Eggman put in there was a threat to us and you miss calculate the antidote?" Lighter asked.

"That's were Topaz comes in, he can go with Misty and try to get a sample, then I can work from there."

"Hey, what about the wolf boys over here?" Canaras laughed as he looked over at Aaron and Conore who sat by one another's girlfriends.

"Hahaha, they'll have to obtain the four Chaos Emeralds Eggman has." Marie stated.

"He has four Chaos Emeralds already?" Amy asked.

"No wait what happens if one of us get injected?' Aaron complained.

"If it's you, Conore's leaving you." Marie answered seriously.

"Now how do we know that there isn't anything else there that we don't know of?" Sonic asked.

"Misty definitely knows that one." Marie exclaimed.

"Let's see," Misty in a faking way pondered, "You have Damion to deal with, and Quazaireon, Espio, and I've heard Eggman has already some of those Hedgeoridons ready, some Chameleoridons, and maybe a few Echidnahords."

"That sounds like he's ready for anything." Rouge said, "Guess there's no way to match them."

"Where there's a will there's a way." Lakia spoke, "Besides, half of us are gonna go and have a breach into Eggman's floating island of his."

"Which is true." Kris agreed.

"Lets decide, lets see…" Marie pondered, "Sonic, Shadow, Misty, Conore, Aaron, maybe sure lets have Rouge, Canaras, and Topaz, oh and Knuckles and Tails. There, there's our team."

"Now wait a minute," Rouge interrupted, "So where am I going?"

"You, Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, Canaras, and Tails are gonna distract around the ship, Misty and Topaz will grab samples and information, while Conore and Aaron find the four Chaos Emeralds and get out." Marie told her.

"Make sense." Sonic nodded.

"So what if Espio appears?" Tails asked.

"Be prepared, you seen what he nearly did to Knux, so just be ready for a counter breach." Marie stated.

"What about gear for the wolf boys?" Mellony mentioned.

"Only a camouflage bracelet, and a healing kit, just incase anything goes wrong, also a communicator to stay in contact with Yorker, he already knows everything, so, don't worry."

Everyone then began chatting again, and Tails sat alone and stared at the window.

"Seems like we've got a war declared with Eggman once and again." Tails sighed.

"Um Marie, what about ammunition?" Amy asked, "Maybe a few battle ships should go with these guys so the army is weakened a little."

"True," Marie said, "Can you handle one Amy?"

"Course I can." Amy replied in a sassy way.

"Rouge?"

"Um, depends, I do though like to just fight with my own feet." Rouge stated.

"Canaras?"

"Sure, I wouldn't mind anyways." Canaras nodded.

"Want to be a cruiser Lighter?"

"Um, sure." Lighter agreed.

"Anyone else?"

No one spoke. Marie then nodded in agreement, "Then it's settled, lets go and prepare ourselves."

_This plan was risky, and I know I won't let all of my friends be in this, and it goes with Sonic's friends also, especially Cream and Cheese. What Marie has described was more like a needed-to-complete mission, no failure period, and I was willing to take this mission._

_I hope that we all successfully get the sample, and some information from the ship, this is important, especially for Espio, we need to save Espio…_


	6. The Breaching

**Chapter 6: **

**The Breaching**

It wasn't long before everyone geared up, and prepared to breached the ships, more ships were built by Conore and some of his friends, the gear was made by some of Misty's friends, and the rest came in prepared for anything. Marie came into Conore's large garage with a pair of headphones with a mike near the mouth connected to an earpiece of the headphone. Marie handed it to Yorker, who was fifteen and was shorter than Conore, but only a few inches taller than Tails, sweet and all, but loves to work.

"Me and Yorker will stay in contact with you all, Yorker by plane, me by ground. So everyone just be careful."

Sonic and Shadow jumped on top of Tails' X-Tornado, along with Knuckles following them, Canaras got into his customized battle craft, Tails hopped into the X-Tornado. Conore, Aaron, Misty, Topaz, and Yorker ran into the large ship called the X3-18 Nightstar, which was the main ship, followed Lighter who hopped into a battle craft beside Canaras'. Rouge jump on the Nightstar's left wing, and Amy hopped into her ship customized by Tails. Misty then at the last moment ran back out of the Nightstar and formed wings, ready for flight.

"Nightstar to all aircrafts register in." Yorker said into the intercom.

"X-Tornado ready." Tails spoke.

"C24-06 Dominion Moonshot ready." Canaras replied.

"L-54 Yin-slang ready, woo-hoo!" Lighter said in excitement.

"A-12 Heartbeat ready for take off." Amy said.

"All ships are registered. Get ready to lift!" Yorker said while activating the engines to the Nightstar.

Engines reared up and started, roaring sounds echoed in the garage, blasters being tested, and everyone powered up for lift off. The garage door slowly opened, and the sunlight shined on all of the aircrafts. The Nightstar then lifted and slowly moved out of the garage, followed by the other crafts. The Nightstar pulled up and aimed for the sky as it slowly moved, avoiding the stadium, and moved above the stadium itself. A battle was taking place; two echidnas were battling harshly, until the Nightstar flew above the stadium slowly, nearly blocking the sun, everyone in the stadium cheered as the ships flew over. Misty quickly flew down and circled the fighters, then flew back up to her spot by the Nightstar's left wing. The crowd roared with thrill, Sonic waved to the people below, and the ships continued to move on. Soon the ships were out of sight, and the fight went on.

They were above the city then, the time they had to boost in speed was when at the ocean shores, so that safety is left alone. Tails flew by the right side of the Nightstar along with Amy, while Canaras and Lighter flew on the left. Misty was flying above the cockpit of the ship, flapping her wings on occasion. Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles sat and held on tight since they were nearing the shore, Rouge held on to the wing of the Nightstar tightly, and kept her wings folded so she doesn't get left behind. Yorker sat with Conore, Aaron, and Topaz in the back, waiting. They then past the shore line and hit the waterside.

"Alright guys, ready to boost?" Yorker said into the intercom.

Misty quickly landed on the nose of the Nightstar, then her feet started to turn to fire, this allowed her to stay secure to the ship for the boost. Everyone else not in the ships clinched the wings and held tight. Everyone else replied with a yes.

"Lets boost then!" Yorker then flipped a few switches and grabbed a lever titled accelerator. After a moment, the boosters were ready for everyone, Yorker pulled the lever back, the engines roared a little, and the boosters fired up, causing all the ships to boost into high speed, in a few seconds, they were out of sight.

-------------

The room was quiet, nothing moved, and nothing bothered. The metal boxes moved a little, and then a few rolled off of Quazaireon. Shaking his head vigorously, he then looked around to find Eggman knocked out, and Espio asleep.

"Damn, he's gone." Quazaireon complained, "This is not good, especially after seeing the mutation."

"Not unless I can take care of him." A deep voice spoke.

Quazaireon looked at Eggman, he was still knocked out, and then looked at Espio, who was kneeling by the bars, grinning evilly with demented eyes still.

"And so he wakes." Quazaireon said.

"If you could release me." Espio said while looking at Eggman.

Quazaireon didn't fear him anyways, so his eyes flashed a dark purple, and the bars raised, Espio then stood up and walk towards him.

"Go to the main control room." Quazaireon said to him, "I'll meet you there."

Espio nodded, seeing that the door was locked from the outside, he punched through the handle and destroyed the lock, then opened the door and left. Quazaireon gazed for a moment, then looked back at Eggman, who then finally woke up.

"'Bout time you woke up." Quazaireon complained, "Knuckles escaped, and has probably warned the others."

"I know," Eggman said while rubbing his, "I got one last look at him before he shut the door, he probably though didn't make it out without being seen by Damion."

"He didn't, although he didn't see me which is a good thought." A voice stated. A hedgehog stood by the doorway with arms crossed, and a grim look. Chains slinked down onto his pants, spike bands wraps around the wrists, arms, and below the knees, along with a large black spike collar with a padlock on a silver ring right below a spike. His left ear was pierced with a safety pin, his left eyebrow pierced, and tongue pierced with a silver anarchy sign. Black eye shadow was smudged down his face, and green markings covered his black body and clothing.

"Ah, Damion, where did he go?" Eggman asked him.

"He took off at the eastern exit." Damion stated, "He basically jumped, I then couldn't see him later on because of the mist."

"Ah." Eggman said, "Then we may have a chance to get out of sight then."

"Not really," Quazaireon stated, "In fact, we've been knocked out for about a hour, so we really don't, let's just keep our pace."

"Right, lets go."

The three then walked out down the hall to the main control room where Espio waited.

-------------

The ships finally slowed down after about ten minutes, and everyone was able to rest their boosters until they came across the mother ship. Yorker was about to ask everyone if they were okay when he seen the radar picked up a large object up ahead.

"Guys, looks like we found him already." Yorker stated to everyone.

"What? We just stopped though." Amy complained.

"That's what I call good timing." Sonic commented.

"Oh shut up Sonic." Rouge told him.

"Guys, get into positions." Yorker said.

"Um we already are Yorks." Misty told him.

"Oops, sorry, then lets head up." Yorker readjusted.

Misty formed wings again and flew in front of the Nightstar, then guided them upwards. The ships followed her, up into the light clouds that reflected against the sun, almost pure white. Sonic felt the breeze come upon his face and smiled a little, enjoying the slight wind that pondered above the water, but that smile faded when the mother ship came to view.

"Wow, it's bigger than I'd thought it'd be." Tails stated.

"This may take a while to find both the Chaos Emeralds and the samples we're looking for." Aaron mentioned.

"No kidding, anything could be anywhere." Amy reminded.

"Misty, you're making the first hit, then meet me at the center of the ship, I'll be dropping off Topaz there in about ten to fifteen minutes." Yorker told her.

"Will do, that'll give us time to locate Espio and know where he's at before you drop Topaz and the wolf boys off." Misty said.

"Tails, you drop off Sonic and them off of that runway there to your left, and fight the left side with Lighter, Canaras and Amy will take the right, and I'll take the top, Misty…"

"Take the bottom wee!" Misty said in excitement.

"Let's do it!" Sonic said with enthusiasm.

Misty quickly then press forward and aimed at the center of the ship, she then realized that she'll need help, she quickly turned back around and flew back to the Nightstar, and landed on top of the canon on the back.

"Need help?" Yorker asked.

Misty laughed and nodded, where she stood was a spot for her to charge up with the energy for the Nightstar, and fire with more energy and power. Yorker booted up the cannon, flipped on the negative release charger, and disconnected the air resistance booster. All this made the energy strong, and Misty wasn't going to fire alone. The cannon glowed, and Misty's feet turned to fire again, she reared up, and as her feet landed, both blue fire and a cannon beam exploded out and headed straight to the mother ship, right at the center. The power then went down, and a few seconds later, the mother ship was hit.

-------------

"Looks like we've got some company Eggman." Damion pointed out, "The shield generator is destroyed, and the violet wave cannons are totaled, what should we do?'

"Espio, you go and lead the team towards them," Eggman demanded, "Quazaireon, can you help shield?"

"Not as much but enough to take a few more strong hits." He replied.

"Will do, and Damion, you help Espio, I know he can't do it alone."

Damion nodded, and the three were out. Eggman held his spot in the control room and watched.

-------------

The ships separated to their areas, Misty flew off of the cannon and went her way, while the Nightstar made its way to where Misty was headed. Yorker then spoke into the intercom, which then started to turn into nearly like a chat room in air.

"Misty, you know when, if you spot Espio or Damion, let us know." Yorker stated to her.

"Roger that, I already got a sight of Damion!" Misty said as she started to fly towards him, "He's headed to the left, Espio must be taking right."

"Oh great, so we've got Damion?" Sonic whimpered.

"Looks like it, just quickly cover the runway and onwards, Misty will help." Yorker told Sonic.

"Ahh!" Amy cried, "He's on our tail!"

"Oh just wonderful." Knuckles nagged, "You have Espio?"

"I'll be there in a minute Amy." Misty told her.

"While you're coming, I'll slow him down." Canaras spoke.

"Don't even try to kill him or you're next." Knuckles warned.

"Hey now, lets not choose sides now, lets just get the sample and Emeralds and get the hell out of here!" Lighter cried into the intercom.

Amy kept looking behind her back, seeing Canaras trying to handle Espio, but Espio kept shifting from normal to mutant and back and fourth. The shifting then soon into a flash, instead of mutation, the flash then became more of use for avoidance. Canaras became furious of this and took no more chanced, and fired a tranquilizer net.

"Canaras!" Amy cried.

Espio's tail was caught in it, and the net soon wrapped around him, trapping him finally and kept him in air instead of free falling down.

"There, should've thought of that when I first seen him." Canaras laughed.

"Canaras you dumb ass!" Misty complained, "That won't have any effect!"

"What?" Canaras inquired, "How's that possible?"

"Since he's now free again and is headed my way!" Misty nitpicked.

Canaras then soon seen Misty just fly over Amy, then seen Espio in mutant form chasing her not far behind. Canaras shot up at Espio, but only missed. Soon Tails came on the intercom.

"Um, we've got an army spurting out!" Tails sobbed.

"Now for a escape. Thank go…ieep!" Misty cried, and then in the intercom a loud snap came into hearing.

"Misty! Are you okay?" Yorker asked nervously.

"Missed by a inch, damn he's quick!"

"We're about three minutes away from…"

"Just drop us off in the runway," Conore told Yorker, "We'll be fine from then on."

"Okay then, Aaron and Conore, hop out!"

Quickly Conore and Aaron hopped out and landed on the runway, both then instantly bolted unseen in great speed.

"Misty, did you lose him?" Yorker asked.

"Yeah, but let's hurry, these Hedgeoridons are gonna kill me soon!" Misty warned.

Yorker then slowly the ship down, right over a small entrance, then shortly after, Misty showed and landed under the ship, Topaz quickly got out and broke through the entrance, Misty followed and covered the entrance again, then Yorker pulled the ship up and headed for the underside.

"Sonic, you still alive?" Yorker made sure of.

"Yeah, but we lost Shadow somewhere." Sonic replied, "I think he took off to follow Damion, who turned around for some reason."

"Amy? Where's Espio?"

"He's not around." Amy replied, "In fact…"

"Crap!" Knuckles shouted.

"Knuckles! What is it?" Yorker asked.

"He's now chasing me and Son-ack!"

"Knux?" Lighter wondered, "You still there?"

"Nearly," Sonic replied for him, "Espio missed both of us thankfully, we need to lose him don't we?"

"Get behind him!" Yorker said.

"No! Don't even!" a females voice said, breaking into the intercom.

"Marie?" Knuckles pondered.

"Keep and stay on the sides of him." Marie said, "Where is he right now?"

Behind us both, in the middle of us." Sonic cried out.

"Split in different directions." Marie said, "He'll only go after one, so he'll leave you two alone, Tails be ready."

"Right Marie." Tails nodded.

"Yorker, is Misty inside?"

"She is." Yorker replied.

"Then go to camouflage, and wait for her."

-------------

It wasn't long before Topaz and Misty found the room they were looking for, in which, Yorker told them where to start looking, that helped a lot, especially for cutting down time to waste.

"Okay, find anything that says mutation on it, or whatever relevant, and take it with you." Yorker said.

"About all of these things say that." Topaz replied.

"Take them all then, Misty, what about computer wise?" Yorker asked her.

"Lots of good info here," Misty smiled, "It even shows what he plans on doing for all of Sonic's friends and all."

"Take whatever interesting."

Misty browsed around the chemistry filled room, and then came across the strangest thing, an amulet sitting on a large desk beside a book titled 'Ancient Records of Amulets'. To Misty, this was good, so she opened her necklace up, and stored the book and amulet inside it, like a computer file, the necklace then disappeared.

"Guys! Espio's headed your way! Get out of there!" Yorker shouted.

"Right, lets go Misty." Topaz warned her.

"Already? I was just getting some good stuff too." She whined.

Quickly the two ran out of the room, and headed the same direction they came from, but yet and sadly, didn't even know where Espio was coming from, which pestered Misty. Luckily, Espio wasn't around, but Damion stood right below their exit to the Nightstar when they both turned the left corner.

"Once in you stay in…" Damion laughed, "You two aren't going anywhere."

"Oh really?' Misty asked in a snotty way, "Prove that we need to stay here."

That was a huge mistake, and Espio showed up right after Misty finished her sentence. Both stood their place and stared at one another's enemy.

"Oh not you!" Misty cried.

Espio gave a little evil grin to her, and started to walk slowly closer to her and Topaz, Damion followed his action and did the same. Misty kept looking back and forth from Damion to Espio, nervous about who was going to attack first, until the emergency bell rang.

"Emergency alert! There's been a breach in the generation room, repeat, there's been a break in in the generation room, capture these intruders! Repeat, capture these intruders!"

Misty without thinking twice, ran and jumped on top of Damions head, and broke through into the skylight, cheering for freedom in a random act, while Topaz camouflaged and followed her. Damion after being stepped on fell to the ground and banged his head against the wall. Espio on the other hand, jumped to the opening, then hit a rock solid object as he went through the hole; this object was actually the door out. Misty smiled greatly.

"Works every time." She laughed.

"Guys, get in Conore and Aaron are almost out." Yorker stated.

"Are the others gone already?" Misty asked before she stepped in.

"Yeah, all of them except for us and the other two, now lets go and pick up the wolf boys!" Yorker said and shoved Misty into the Nightstar.

-------------

Conore and Aaron broke through a glass window, with all four Chaos emeralds in their hands, they quickly ran out of the generation room and into a hallway they took to get there. Both guys were different now; Conore instead of being a regular fox looking, had black markings all over his body, and Aaron, who used to be white, now's light gray with dark silver markings on him, following Conore's footsteps to a way out.

"So how long do we have until we get back to the exit?" Aaron asked him while running ruthlessly.

"'Bout five minutes, otherwise just keep yourself behind me and…"

An explosion then came, right beside the two at that moment; both flew into the sidewall and fell to the ground. Aaron lied unconscious, and Conore sat on his knees. Quickly he tried to wake Aaron back up, until Espio appeared right behind Conore.

"Keep tryin' maybe he'll then die in front of you." Espio laughed evilly.

Conore clutched his fists in anger, and quickly turned to punch Espio in the face, but instead, Espio jumped, but not quickly enough, and took a hit in the stomach. Espio flew from that point to nearly the other side of the hallway, and quickly then landed on his feet, regaining his balance. Conore sat two Chaos Emeralds down by Aaron, and stared at Espio. After a few moments, Espio screeched, and bolted at Conore with vast swiftness, and while at that, mutated to his mutant form, and took Conore down by the throat, and pinned him down. A fight had begun between wolf and mutant.

-------------

Yorker tried and tried to get in contact with Conore and Aaron, but both were out of range, which was not a good sign. Misty paced frantically, worried about them.

"Why can't I get a signal?" Yorker complained as he tried harder and harder.

"I hope they're okay, unless something wave like was broke and disturbed the signal." Misty wondered.

"And that's probably why too, now to figure out the problem and fix it." Yorker sigh, "I just hope Espio doesn't find them."

-------------

Conore quickly kicked Espio off of his body and jumped straight back up onto his feet, or actually on all fours, arched his back and snarled at Espio viciously. Espio went on all fours and screeched back, eyes shrinking in thickness and claws scraping the floor, this though didn't help Espio, because Conore was nearly doing the same thing to him.

Both charged at one another, and then clung to one another either on the arm or leg. Conore bit, Espio clawed. One howled, the other hissed. They kept charging at one another and merely wounding one another. Espio then screeched, and the same creatures that Knuckles seen came after Conore, jaws open wide and more screeching came. Conore jumped quickly, but not quick enough to dodge the first creature, which bit him on his left hip; he howled loudly, the throbbing sting pulled him back down, the second creature then bit him on his weak right ankle. A third even shot at him and bit him on the neck, this started to weaken Conore even more. Conore finally fell to his knees, whining and whimpering in ache, Espio then flew at him and pinned him down once more.

"Thought you could weaken and kill me?" Espio hissed in Conore's face, fangs showing brightly, "You're wrong."

A sudden dagger then hit Espio's back, causing the creature to disappear, and Espio to lose concentration on Conore. He quickly then back away from Conore, almost curling up into a tight ball, Aaron then came out of nowhere and attacked Espio from the side, followed by Conore, who pinned him and crunched Espio's back nearly in half. Aaron bit Espio's sides and his shoulders viciously. These two ripped Espio apart, then when Espio returned to normal form, they left him in shreds, took the Emeralds, and left.

Blood was everywhere, even on the ceiling. Espio lied on the floor with large bit marks, wounds, gashes, and a broken back, a back bone breaking out of his skin was white; and he was crippled there unless Eggman found him quickly enough to heal him soon. Espio wheezed heavily, his eyes blurred, and he finally fell to the ground fully.

-------------

Yorker, Misty, and Topaz waited, as they waited, they spoke with Sonic and his friends.

"What's taking you guys so long man?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know, but it must be something." Yorker said briefly.

"After all, Espio probably found them." Misty thought.

"They then are probably dead." Knuckles stated, "Cause I know for a fact me, Sonic, and Shadow nearly took hits from him that could've killed us instantly."

"Shadow's there?" Misty asked in shock.

"He Chaos Controlled so Espio didn't follow him, that chicken." Sonic said angrily.

"Ah don't worry, we got the samples and such, now we need the Emeralds." Misty said trying to be cheery.

"There they are!" Topaz pointed out, "And lord are they covered in blood."

"What now?" Tails asked on the intercom.

"Hey, they have the Emeralds!" Misty cheered.

"Alright!" Amy cheered with her.

"Oh my god! Conore looks like he's been nearly killed!" Yorker stated.

"Then get him and get them out of there!" Marie told him, "We don't have all day."

Yorker lowered the ship, and dropped a rope for the two to climb. Aaron quickly shifted back to his old white self, and grabbed all four of the Emeralds, while Conore stayed in his werefox form and climbed up in pain that struck him hard. Topaz assisted them both, and took the Emeralds. Misty helped Conore up and dragged him by the seats behind Yorker. Conore whined painfully, blood spilled all over his body, and wounds everywhere, while Aaron was scratch-free, and Misty still didn't understand why. Topaz set the Emeralds by Yorker, and turned away to get a first aid kit. Yorker took one look at the Emeralds, and then boosted the ship out of sight from the mother ship.

"Conore, can you speak alright?' Misty asked him.

"Barely…" Conore replied faintly, "Espio's been shredded up though, so I'm happy now, that's all that matters to me."

Misty nodded, and topaz came in with the aid kit, Misty healed Conore only part way (since that's what she's limited only for those who are severely damaged) and stepped away from Topaz. Topaz then finished the rest of the way and let Conore sit, still in his form.

"That was defiantly dangerous," Aaron stated sitting by Conore, "Even though I was knocked out for a while, at least I managed to regain myself and throw that dagger in the back."

"Wait a minute…" Conore told him, "That made him back away from me and go into great pain. Aaron! You're a genius!"

"I am?" Aaron wondered, "How and why?"

"You discovered Espio's weak spot, his center back, and that is a advantage!"

"Now we're close to saving him." Misty cheered, "but wait, what about Quazaireon?"

"Huh?" Yorker asked.

"Yeah, he joined with Eggman, so where is he?"

_That question left us in the Nightstar nervous, and with Yorker turning off the intercom before the boys came on board, that made things a little worse. But the good thing was that the Emeralds were obtained and the samples too, but what about Quazaireon?_

_That's left a mystery, right now, we know Espio's weak spot, this was going to help us a lot, since we now know that Espio has a chance to be obtained and turned to normal, but the question is, how do we get him while he's alone…_


	7. The Midnight Hunt and Find

**Chapter 7: **

**The Midnight Hunt and Find**

The Nightstar landed on the shoreline, and everyone was there. Sonic stood impatiently, tapping his foot repeatedly every second. Yorker and the others stepped out and showed the Chaos Emeralds, and the samples, raising their arms high and proud with dignity, everyone cheered in blissfulness.

"On question Marie," Misty started out, "If Quazaireon joined Eggman, then where is he?"

"I of course am here." A voice said from behind.

Conore and Aaron both spun around rapidly to see Quazaireon sitting on the nose of the Nightstar laughing. Misty back flipped around and faced Quazaireon with a grimace on her face; Yorker and Topaz only moved half ways around just to see, while everyone stared at him.

"I was busy keeping watch of Espio, and I see that the two wolf boys have discovered his weak back I presume."

"Don't pull anything sly, or you'll be in for it." Conore growled, still in his werefox form.

"Actually me and Eggman already did, you guys just have to wait until the clouds are clear for moonlight to shine." Quazaireon stated, "In fact, Sonic, don't be wandering alone, or you'll might end up like him."

Quazaireon then laughed and disappeared, only a small black fog left behind. Everyone sat silent for a long while, confused of what Quazaireon said. Charmy then finally spoke.

"So what do we do now? Eggman did something else to Espio and we don't even know what."

"I'll take the samples and info that you guys got there," Marie said, "Maybe before sunset, I'll have the info we need."

"Not enough time," Conore told her, "Just work on a antidote, leave the findings to us."

"So what should we do?" Amy asked.

"Knuckles, Sonic, Shadow, Aaron, Misty and I are going to be warding the city tonight, and see what Quazaireon means, the rest of you get to your places and lock your doors, showing no sign of life." Conore ordered.

"Marie, can I help you?" Yorker asked.

"Sure, even though Canaras also asked." Marie agreed.

"Wait, Conore." Tails called, "Do you mind if I help?"

"Are you sure?" Conore asked him, "You're dealing with a monster in the dark, and Espio can pop up anytime, killing one of us."

"I'll take that chance."

Conore nodded lightly, then walked over to Lighter, and handed in the four Emeralds.

"What am I to do with these?" Lighter asked in puzzlement.

"Hide them for tonight." Conore affirmed.

-------------

Darkness soon fell hours later, rarely any clouds in the sky, and the full moon shining bright at the city's ocean side. Nothing stirred the city, except the others who were assigned a section of the city. Sonic dashed every street in his section, keeping a blue light on all around following behind him. He rarely paused to rest, but usually was in a dark spot. He listened, nothing made a sound, except once in a while a dog barked from a distance beyond the city. Sonic then continued to speed through the section he guarded. After moments later, he then spotted a small shadow in a distance, he quickly ran over and looked for the shadow that past, nothing was seen. He stood for while and waited.

Bang! Stars flew into his eyes and blacked out, he fell and lied on the ground unconscious.

-------------

Not far was Misty just flying over, catching a glance at Sonic, seeing him on the ground face flat. She quickly dove and landed beside Sonic, trying to wake him up. She nudged him with her muzzle, he lied still on the ground. She smacked him in the face, but not even a twitch came to his body. She bit him on his arm, but no shout came out, he was definitely knocked out good. She spotted a garbage can lid behind him, and seen a large dent in it, Espio, she though, he's here. That moment then ended with her also being banged, and she also fell by Sonic unconscious.

-------------

Tails walked around his section of the city, a small section, nearly in the middle of the city, with a small blaster in his hand, keeping his eyes open, and his ears perked up high and alert, trying everything to hear whatever was around him, he heard nothing.

"If only Eggman was actually dead." Tails sighed, "He makes things worse for even himself. And besides, he doesn't even deserve to live sometimes."

"Maybe you shouldn't deserve to live." A scuffed voice told him.

Tails froze, and then spun around to see Quazaireon walking towards him. Tails quickly pointed the blaster at him and kept it aimed at his head, but Quazaireon only laughed at him for taking such action.

"You little pest!" Tails scowled.

"We'll, it could be true, and maybe you just deserve to be punished like your brother." Quazaireon stated as he jumped above Tails' head. Tails then pulled the trigger to the blaster, and tried shooting at him. Quazaireon only though kept bouncing from wall to wall of many buildings, and kept sprinting closer to Tails. The trigger then got jammed, and was unable to fire, Tails hastily looked at the street he stood on and found Quazaireon wasn't around. He then spun around, and the next thing he knew, his right armed started to burn, he cried in agony, his arm had a large black print, where his scar was. A purple aurora came from the print, like smoke, and disappeared into the air. This print was like a tattoo, he couldn't get rid of it, and he tried to when Quazaireon laughed again, behind him.

"Enjoy your new look and life wolf boy." Quazaireon laughed as he turned and sprint out of sight.

Tails stood in query, wondering what he meant by wolf boy, which was answered when his eyes caught the moon in the sight. The mark on his arm began again to burn.

-------------

Knuckles roamed around his segment of the city, also with a blaster, eyes bright and shining in the dark night. He held his head high, high enough to try to catch a glimpse of anything strange in the night. But what he heard made him loose his concentration. A howl rose into the atmosphere, echoing through the inactive metropolitan, this sounded like a young howl, and to Knuckles, it wasn't a good sign.

"Sounds like we've got a visitor." Knuckles grinned while jacking the charger for the blaster.

"Not unless you know who it is." A figure popped down beside Knuckles a few yards away, and just by the shape from the moonlight, it was Espio.

"Espio!" Knuckles shrieked.

"What's the matter? Didn't expect a visitor like me to find you instead of your other friends." Espio spoke wickedly.

"Look, I'll fight you, but you need to…"

"Will do." Espio then screeched, his eyes became demented, and he mutated, Knuckles then knew he spoke too soon, way too soon.

"And I was about to say you need to say in normal form." Knuckles hollered.

Espio grinned and revised to normal form, "If you wish, but you need to drop your blaster, we'll have a fist fight, who ever wins takes all."

Knuckles didn't even bother asking, and dropped his gun. He grimaced for a moment, but then noticed a small shadow above Espio's head on a building. Just by the shadow's position, it was watching them.

"Quazaireon!" Knuckles figured, he then grabbed his gun and fired at the shadow. The shadow disappeared then, not returning.

"Damn!" Knuckles cried out.

Espio laughed and shook his head, "You thought _that_ was Quazaireon? I'm ashamed of your sighting."

"What do you mean?" Knuckles growled.

"Take another look at the ears if he ever shows up again, now lets fight before the time comes for me to fail your requirements."

"Bring it on!" Knuckles challenged as the gun was tossed to the side.

Both then charged at one another, and started a fistfight. Espio struck a punch at Knuckles stomach, hard, causing him to fall and skid on the cement on his back. Paying no attention to his back, he jumped back onto his feet and charged again, rapidly punching Espio's stomach back out of his wits, then taking a final punch, and struck him into a wall. Espio sat for a moment, and secretly clutched a stray dagger, and tossed it at Knuckles, Knuckles swayed away from the dagger, and let it go into a dark alley, when a shriek came.

Knuckles paused and so did Espio, wondering what was in the shadow that shrieked. The dagger was tossed back at a rapid speed, and stabbed Espio's shoulder, nailing him into the wall. Knuckles glanced over at Espio, then turned to the shadow, his face turning pale. There was a small growl, then a small snarl, and then out of the black, Knuckles was tackled to the ground in a second.

Knuckles felt claws puncturing his shoulder, and his back sliding on the pavement again, this time, it hurt awfully. When he stopped sliding, he looked up and found a wolf looking creature about his size snarling at him. Black marking wrapped all over its body, and a large black marking sat on top of a scar on the right arm, Knuckles then knew instantly what it was.

"Tails?" Knuckles contemplated.

The blue eyes didn't lie, it was Tails, and not normal. The black mark signified that he was attacked, and probably by Quazaireon. Knuckles, not forgiving his own mind, punched Tails off of him, and ran by Espio, and without thinking twice once and again; he grabbed the dagger from Espio's wounded shoulder, and stood with it in his hands. Espio looked at him funny then, wondering why Knuckles did so, he then got up and ran. Knuckles looked back and seen him escape, and let him go, at that moment, he needed to stop Tails.

Tails walked over on all fours towards Knuckles, growling brutally. Knuckles raised his arm holding the dagger, and glared at Tails back, warning him, or tried to. Tails roared at him and subsequently got attacked. A large figure held Tails down with one hand and knee on his back. The figure was Conore.

"Go and capture Espio! Don't let him escape!" Conore told Knuckles, "Hurry, before it's too late!"

Knuckles nodded and grabbed his blaster, and went to trace Espio's steps.

Conore held Tails still, pushing his claws into his skin, and with no thought added to his mind, bit Tails on the shoulder. Tails howled in pain, and tried to fight back, snarling, roaring, howling, and snapping at him, just for it. Conore held his grip, and didn't let go.

-------------

Knuckles held his breath, after letting Espio escape, what was he thinking? He quickly charged his blaster and continued to run. His breath went heavy, his chest rising and falling as he gasped for air. Knuckles couldn't take the running then, and slowed down, enough for Espio to spring out from behind. Rolling many times, they attacked one another again, until Knuckles hit a dumpster in an alley, being pinned again by Espio.

"Not again." Knuckles sighed.

"This time you're coming with me." Espio smirked, "And will help us instead of them."

"You're the one that needs to switch sides!" Knuckles shouted, "You were the one taken away, you're coming back with us."

"Not unless another is taken from you." Espio sneered, "Welcome to the Dark."

Espio then bit Knuckles on the shoulder, clutching him with claws that pierced Knuckles again. Knuckles cried out in torture, feeling blood rush out of his body rapidly. Slowly he became light headed, and couldn't take it, and kicked Espio off of him. Espio slid on the street while on his side, then got on all fours and hissed at him. Knuckles grabbed his shoulder, trying to control the blood from rushing out so fast, but couldn't handle it, and slowly lost his vision.

Out of the blue, a white blur hopped over Knuckles and tackled Espio to the ground, blue flames grasping Espio's wrists and ankles to the ground, securing him tightly. Knuckles tried to make out who caught Espio, but ended up blind, and fell on the ground blood still spilling out.

-------------

It wasn't long after Knuckles regained his vision and himself again, seeing everyone that was suppose to guard the city around him, except Tails and Conore, no one knew where they were. Knuckles blinked a couple of times and slowly got up, remembering his wound, he felt the shoulder, and found it was gone. All of his wounds were gone, and it was sunrise.

"Man Knux, you were wounded badly when we found you." Sonic stated, handing him a bottle of water, "You're lucky Misty came just in time before Espio really got to you."

"Espio!" Knuckles shouted, "Where is he?"

"He's been put to sleep." Misty stated as she moved, Espio's body lied on the pavement motionless, the sight relieved Knuckles mind, knowing that he has been taken care of.

"Hey Knux, have you seen Conore and Tails?" Aaron asked him.

"Tails…Conore… oh!" Knuckles remembered, "Last time I seen them they were over there a ways. Conore pinned Tails down so that I could find Espio."

"What? Why?" Sonic asked him.

"Huh? I really don't remember." Knuckles said rubbing his shoulder still.

"Let's go find them." Shadow sighed, "They're not far I know for a fact."

Knuckles stood up, "Misty, Aaron and I will, you two stay."

"No, I'll stay, Sonic will go." Misty said, "If anything, Sonic needs to know what happened. And Espio needs to be kept an eye on."

They all nodded, and the three walked off, while Misty and Shadow stayed and waited.

Nearly fifteen minutes past by, and neither Tails nor Conore were found. The three kept their eyes open, they still didn't understand how they couldn't find them when it was broad daylight out, although, many ideas popped in their heads. They searched Conore's segment, the streets were alive there, so they went to Tails' segment, and found nothing.

"Well this sucks." Aaron complained.

"Sunrise and yet the city's waking up." Sonic affirmed.

"Yeah, they probably left the city." Knuckles thought.

"They couldn't, unless one was chasing another and needed assistance," Aaron thought, "like or example, like you and Esp…"

Howling then spurted into the air, interrupting Aaron's example, they followed the sound, and quickly found Conore and Tails fighting, Conore in his werefox form, and Tails in what he was when Knuckles seen him once before. Sonic looked at the fight in confusion, and tried to get Conore's attention.

"Hey! What in god's name are you doing?" Sonic yelled.

That turned into a bad move, Conore lost Tails, and Tails ran towards the three.

"Guys! Look out!" Conore tried to warn them.

Aaron quickly turned into his werefox form and grasped Tails' neck and held him, choking him. Sonic stood still confused, until Knuckles told him it was Tails. Sonic then only stared at Tails, wondering how he transformed into what he was now. Aaron continued to choke Tails, until Conore stabbed Tails with a custom injection, then Tails slowly fell asleep. Sonic then only stared at Tails, or at least what Tails turned into.

_This hunt nearly killed Knuckles, and I wasn't about to let that happen again, especially after finding out later that Tails has become a werefox himself, but only by curse. Quazaireon must of returned to Eggman, and no one spotted Damion yet, since it was now day, we quickly ran to the Moonlight Café, and ended up staying there with Espio and Tails at rest for now. Marie met us there, and told us to follow her to her place, where she planned to restore Tails, but not yet Espio…_

_Although I am thankful for catching Espio, and quickly enough before Knuckles joined him with Eggman…_

_What Espio is, is natural in the Kiroshioneze culture, and for what he is, Knuckles is lucky enough to be able to be rescued before another five minutes with Espio, or he would've been turned into what Espio was like. This was a near lose, and we don't need it again…_

_Sonic was still surprised after finding out what happened to Tails, and took a walk, I happen to follow him, leaving the others behind…_

_Next time if we ever experience this again, to team in pairs, and be more prepared, this midnight hunt was risky enough, but now the dirty work is now just coming in. Nirinia please, help us all._


	8. The Story, Dream, and Creatures

**Chapter 8:**

**The Story, the Dream, and the Creatures**

Amy, Cream and Cheese, and Rouge joined back with the others, and then headed over to Marie's place in a forest they never knew existed. Misty explained to them on the way that the world was slowly regaining the old, although the cities will still be in place, it's the forest that will grow more and change it's name back to normal, this was part of the war that will begin. She explained what creatures would soon come back alive, and what ancient myths will rise again. One interested them all, and it was the story of the Element Demons that roamed back then. As they sat in the Nightstar, Misty told Yorker to go at normal speed, so that she had enough time to explain the background story of the Element Demons. Everyone paid great attention to this, for which this may help the group later on.

"Back when this planet was young," Misty started, "Peace sat here, and nothing disturbed, until the first Kiroshioneze War took place, this war was the turning point of change. The Dark won, and many either died or became cursed. Seven of those cursed were taken to the Dark, when originally they were supposed to serve the Light. The case of mistaken identity was at hand.

"These seven were the True Element Demons, each represented a element, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Ice, Dark, and Universe. Three ended up dead because of their risk of escape, while the other four, stayed alive, that's when the three False Element Demons came, in replace of the ones that died, which were Ice, Earth, and Dark. The other four had to suffer under the Dark's power, since the Dark recently discovered that they had the actual Element Demons in their hands, they killed three of the True, and regretted it. A second war then began, this time, the Light won.

"The Light however didn't regained all of what they lost, instead, they only regained the power of the past. That then was the time the Traveling Earthesens came to be. They believed these people will be able to help with regaining power back, in which, started the third war. This was known as the Transition War, where the Dark and Light discovered new ways to regain power and tried to destroy one another with this idea. The element Demons voided with the Light, and helped defeat the Dark the second time, but it became a mistake, because shortly after, the fourth war began, this time the Dark won.

"The reason though the True Element Demons were finally released from both sides, was because it seemed to be a tug-a-war just between these creatures, that then is when the Demon Phoenix came to be.

"Many say that this creature has been around longer than the universe, but many found that impossible. The Demon Phoenix however was something more powerful then the Traveling Earthesens could handle. I also forgot to mention, each of these people carried a Guardian, representing a family member that survived the second war. The Guardians then agreed to form a full Kiroshioneze Traveling Earthesen, and I still don't know how I know all this, but anyways. This was to be the one given the most power. The one who could take on the Demon Phoenix and defeat him. This was a success only once, that one was legendary, and became known as the first recovered source, with the Demon Phoenix defeated once, the Guardians regained much power from the Dark.

"The True Element Demons however were left alone, and were given back all of their power. Many people believe that the four True ones alone could defeat the Demon Phoenix once and for all, since the first defeat wasn't enough.

"Their powers of the elements were great, and useful. I know all four of them. In fact, I know who they are exactly. The Lightning type is Zondraos, the older brother of the True, and known to be as fast as light. The Fire is Flashima, the younger sister of the True, is known to be the "Phoenix", or the demon of fire. The Water is Aquarion, who is the younger brother, and can harness and control all water of the world, also known for large rainstorms and water cyclones. Then last, Universe is Comestarios, the older sister, controls the galaxy we live in, and is lastly known to create black holes to either teleport, or penetrate enemies."

Misty only took a short break after telling this to the group, everyone nodded in agreement that they understood.

Misty then continued a little farther, "Basically this fifth and final war is so that we can penetrate all of the Dark and destroy the Demon Phoenix. Since as we all know, Quazaireon is on the Dark and has already caused enough trouble."

"Right, we've now basically got three things to deal with now." Sonic explained, "One, is Eggman, two, is the Demon Phoenix, and last…"

"To keep ourselves safe and rescue one another ASAP when attacked or missing." Shadow finished off, "What about the Emeralds?"

"Lighter has them, and I heard he sent them to Marie's for testing." Aaron stated.

"Why would they need testing though?" Amy asked.

"The Dark can use the energy of the Chaos Emeralds to gain more power. So we have to check and see about their energy levels." Conore told her.

"The Master Emerald!" Knuckles remembered, "We forgot the Master…"

"Calm down Knux, it's fine." Misty told him.

"How do you know? I know Charmy and Vector aren't there! And I'm not there! So who is?" Knuckles shouted.

"I put a large fire barrier around the Emerald and the island itself, also camouflaged it so it couldn't be seen." Misty said to him.

"You were at the island?" Knuckles asked.

"When Tails, Charmy, and Vector were, I took them off of the island because I knew that you needed help. So before I left with the three, I left a shield around it, so don't freak out gesh."

After that, Knuckles was then relieved for that moment when she explained to him, after remembering the Emerald he nearly received a heart attack. Yorker after a moment turned and smiled, "We're here, lets get the two and go."

Conore and Aaron fetched Espio and Tails, who were still asleep, and brought them to ground. The rest of the gang then followed.

"Gesh I didn't know Marie live here as a country woman." Rouge stated, "She seems more like a city woman just by the way she acts."

"I sense a disturbance." Shadow stated.

Misty sighed, knowing what Shadow was thinking, she moved on without worry. Cream and Cheese roamed a little, pondering at the new surrounding. Sonic also browsed around the area, and couldn't believe he didn't take noticed of the huge fenced off area behind the house. And stared at it, wondering what was there.

Conore later seen Marie standing by the door, waiting for them to bring in the two that the group obtained, and she stood with a small smirk, that smirk meant something good. In blue jeans, a red T-shirt, and a silver ring around her left ring finger. She pointed with her head to the door, bring the two inside. Conore nodded and went in with Tails, followed by Aaron with Espio, and then the rest of the group went in.

"'Bout time you guys showed up, what took ya?" Marie asked them.

"Had a incident to take care of, and also do a little story tellin'" Conore laughed.

"Oh shut up and bring Espio in." Marie directed, "What else do you have?"

Conore then set Tails on the table nearest to them, "Have Tails here who has been…"

"What the hell did you do to him?" Marie shrieked.

"First he got cursed, next, went after Knux, then I held him down from about one in the morning 'til sunrise, then he woke up, so I had to hold on to him longer, then finally Aaron came and helped."

Marie shook her head, "At least he's cursed instead of killed."

"I was surprised also when Conore brought Tails on the ship too." Rouge stated, "I nearly fell over sick because of the condition."

"And I wouldn't blame her either." Amy agreed.

"In fact, that mark is directly on the scar, that's probably why too." Knuckles pointed out, lifting Tails' arm showing Marie.

"That definitely Quazaireon for you." Marie sighed.

"What about Espio?" Cream asked.

"I made the antidote, but it'll take time." Marie stated.

"Um, I seen him twitched." Misty pointed, staring at Espio's hand that dangled off of the table.

"Canaras, grab the sleep injection while you're back there." Marie called to him.

"Right." Canaras' voice replied.

"Make that two."

"Since when did Canaras get here?" Misty asked.

"Since you guys started on the hunt." Marie responded.

Canaras then came with the injections, at the first sight, Misty quickly ran out of the room. Everyone stared at her as she ran out.

"What's wrong with her?" Shadow asked.

"She hates things like shots." Marie stated, "Whenever a needle pops up, she runs out and hides, even if they're not for her."

"I wouldn't blame her either, those needles look think and large." Sonic pointed out.

"Oh not you too." Knuckles sighed.

"And I wouldn't be surprised if blood squirts out either." Marie warned, that comment made Amy pale.

Canaras injected Espio first, knowing what he can do, no blood squirted. He then went to Tails, when he put the injection in, some blood spattered out, scaring Amy and causing her to jump into Sonic's arms. The spattering then stopped, and no more blood leaked. Amy then felt sick.

"Okay I don't mind being a bat, but not a vampire bat." Rouge stated.

"I wouldn't either, I have to deal with this type of stuff five days a week." Marie told her.

"Boy do I feel sorry for you." Knuckles said in guilt.

"Don't be, I actually sometimes enjoy it."

Seeing Shadow walk out, Rouge followed. Sonic then stared at Amy; Amy then finally jumps off of Sonic and stands still.

"Okay guys, I'll work on Tails and Espio, so you guys just wait in the living room, or look at my pets in the back." Marie offered.

"Pets?" Sonic questioned.

"Misty will walk you through it if she has to. Now go so we can work."

"Right." The group said and walked out.

After about two hours, Sonic slept a little, Amy sat and read a book, Misty slept on the floor, Cream and Cheese played with the other Chao that were there, Conore and Aaron both called their girlfriends to talk with them for a while, Shadow sat in silence, and Rouge and Knuckles sat talking quietly. All was quiet, at least a little bit quiet, and Marie and Canaras still haven't finished. Sonic, though napping, started to dream.

-------------

His footsteps echoed in the bitterness of darkness, no shadow was shown, he couldn't even see his own feet, his breath started to fall heavy, his heart picking up pace, as only fear started to creep up behind his back. The place was too black and cold. His skin felt like ice freezing again, his ears catching only a small arctic breeze, nothing else stirred. He stopped walking, and stood in place, trying to get a sight of light, as he felt his face grow even colder, colder than he could imagine and feel.

A sound of wings flapping came behind him, he quickly turned with a heavy gasp flowing from his mouth, and then silence came again. He felt only his heart, his heart beat loudly and hard, almost feeling like it was trying to push out of his chest, to escape from dread. He then stood straight again, trying to regain himself from the terror, which the terror then grew when his shoulder stung hard.

He grasped his neck in pain, the stinging pain slowly faded, and a small blue light came in from nowhere, he looked up, and seen only a full moon and the dark blue sky. He felt then a soak on his shoulder, using the hand he grasped with, felt for the moisture, he lifted his hand into the moonlight and fell into a shock, seeing his own hand drenched in blood, blood from his own body. His tried to see his wounded shoulder, but couldn't see it, only a little gash to the closest eye. His heart started to race, what bit him?

The room enlightened, and he found himself in a prison-like cell. Spotting a pool of water to the left side, he looked into it, and found the bite mark on his shoulder, this bite mark wasn't small, and it looked like his shoulder was just been eaten from. He stammered backwards I astonishment. He looked at himself again, seeing his own face, and what he wore, he was wearing blue baggy jeans, and a black vest that went by his thighs. He glanced up back at the open hole into the sky, and seen the full moon nearly covered the hole above, he felt his shoulder again, but felt no drenched spot, he tried to look at his wound again, it was gone, but only a little.

The room started to grow hot, but nothing was around to heat, until he seen his reflection again, his eyes went from an emerald green to nearly a sunlight gold, his face nearly turned white. His back cracked, and he fell to the floor, his heart beat faster, his breath became shorter, and he heard his head ring with a loud screech that faded quickly faded. He then kept hearing his name, called what sounded like Amy, his name being called repeatedly, like the call for help, or to try to help him. A dark and grim laughter then came around, sounding out Amy's voice. He heard this laugh before, but where, that was answered when the laugh stopped and spoke, but it seemed it came from his mind. _You thought I was dead eh? Well you're dreams are now shattered._ He tried to turn out the voice, as his back started to stiffen, but the voice the spoke again. _Your friends may survive, but you won't, you'll join with me, and together, we will conquer the world! You as my pet, and I as your master forever and for all eternity!_ Eggman! He thought. I'd never join you.

His back then cracked again, and the voice came back. _Suit yourself; you're joining with Espio then!_ His back cracked a final time, and heard a ripping sound, the sound was his vest ripping from behind, and seen wings form from his back. His armed popped and dislocated, his body then collapsed onto a rock formation by some bars. His arms then relocated back to their sockets, but to him, it felt too different, he tried and elevated his hand, his gloved ripped, and dark claws formed. He tried to cry for help, but his voice became nearly a screech. He quickly shut his mouth, or at least tried to, and held his breath, and attempted to ignore the change, until he looked behind him, and seen his small tail grow even longer than normal, then gave out w hip sound. Sonic couldn't bare it, he shouted in disgrace, and tried to call for help, voices then came to him again, then a blacked out image.

-------------

"Sonic!" Misty's voice shouted at him.

Sonic woke up, and fell off the couch with a loud shout of agony, then thump. Misty quickly moved before Sonic landed, then only stared at him with a strange expression printed on her face. Sonic regained himself and sat up a little, rubbing his head. He quickly looked around, and sees he was still at Marie's place, he sighed in relief and lied back down on the floor. Misty then stood above him, staring. Cream and Amy came in Sonic's view a few seconds later, then Knuckles, then Shadow, Rouge, Conore, and Aaron, all stared at him.

"What happened?" Sonic asked the group.

"Just by the way you woke up, you had a dream about you mutating." Misty spoke.

"Why though, I mean he only seen what I seen once, not twice." Knuckles pointed out.

"I think your Guardian Nirinia's at it again." Conore said, shaking his head.

"That could only mean one thing," Shadow said, "The Guardian's maybe trying to say that Sonic could be next in mutation."

"Oh crap." Sonic sighed.

"But wait," Rouge stepped in, "How do we know if we didn't see his dream?"

"Because I was awake and reading his thoughts." Misty said, "Eggman's voice was in it, and he was in something like what Knux and Espy were in."

"No telepathic can lie unless they really wanted to." Aaron spoke up.

"This isn't good then," Amy whined, "What happened anyways Sonic?"

"Well, I seen the full moon rise," Sonic started to explain, "Well, even before that, I guess I was bitten, but I could suspect it was Espio, since I heard wings flapping, and I was bitten."

"Go ahead." Rouge stated while sitting and crossing her legs on the armchair.

"Anyhow," Sonic continued, "The moon rose, and, the wound faded, alter. I seen a water puddle, and looked into it, about three times, the third time, my eyes turned almost like a gold."

"And." Shadow cocked his head.

"My back cracked three timed and stiffened, Eggman's voice then came in, it was like I was fighting him in my mind, but anyways, then I started to…change."

"What changed first, we know the eyes, but what else?" Rouge asked.

"I think it was the claws that formed first." Misty stated.

"Well, I formed wings first, or at least I think I did, then I guess the claws came, and before the claws came, my arms dislocated and relocated, feeling a whole new difference. Then my voice, it went from like, my normal voice, to a growling screech."

"And I know for a fact one last thing happened, what was it?" Conore asked him.

"My tail," Sonic remembered, "My tail grew longer, almost like a whip. Then I blacked out."

"Exactly what I read." Misty considered.

"That and Tails' fine now." Marie budded in.

Sonic stood anxiously up, "Really?"

"Well, a few more minutes and then he will be. But we also got Espio done, twenty-four hours and he'll be fine."

Everyone nodded. Marie then turned and went back inside the other room, then popped her head out again, "Misty, can you do me a favor?"

"What's up?" Misty asked.

"Grab Kikosho and Lekis, bring them in will ya?"

"Sure." Misty said while running out of the door.

"Who are they?" Amy asked.

"One of many of Marie's pets." Conore stated, "Though I consider them as, but really they can talk."

"How exactly?" Shadow pondered.

"Conore!" two slightly high voice called out.

In came running in two creatures the size of little husky pups. One looked a lot like Espio, though light blue markings ran around her neck and down. Small demon-like wings, and the smallest horn anyone seen, and was on all fours, that was the same with the other one. The other one looked more like a hedgehog, though the quills were in a mixed formation, dark blue with silver stripes, and small, feathered wings with silver-blue tips on the ends. Misty then followed them in afterwards, seeing Conore kneeling down and getting kissed by these creatures.

"Oh my god they are so cute!" Amy complimented.

"These are definitely different than usual." Cream acknowledged.

"No kidding." Sonic smiled.

"The Chamelia is Kikosho, and the Hedginia is Lekis." Marie stated.

"They're what?" Knuckles asked in confusion.

"Oops, I forgot, hehe, um, well, the chameleon looking is Kikosho, and the hedgehog like is Lekis." Marie restated.

"Oh, you just stated their breed." Sonic laughed.

"Yeah, sorry." Marie apologized.

"They're so cute too, where did you get them?" Rouge asked.

"I found them in the city. No one wanted them so I took them, and that's the biggest they're gonna get."

"Aww, I thought they'd row a little bigger." Amy cried in sympathy.

"Come on in back and I'll show you some more creatures. But um, I'd recommend that Cheese stays here." Marie warned.

Cream nodded, and left Cheese behind, and the gang followed her to another door, which led them to what almost looked like a zoo. Sonic stood closely to Misty, who was content and quiet, and stayed with her.

"As you can see." Marie said, "Most of these aren't the greatest in looks, but make good fighters and territory guards."

"Yeah especially when asleep." Amy whispered a little.

"Right." Marie agreed, "Especially the Echorodons."

"What are those?" Knuckles asked, while looking at the cage beside them to the right.

"Misty." Marie glanced.

"Right." Misty sighed as she opened the cage door and stepped in, closing the gate behind her. She stood around for a moment, then out of the ground, almost right under her feet, a large snake like creature rose and snapped at her. Misty shrieked and ran towards the gate, after dashing out, Marie shut the gate quickly, and the creature, froze, glaring at the gang. This creature looked a lot like Knuckles, only more like the legendary Medusa, snake eyes and all. It hissed and returned underground, while Misty gasped for air while in shock.

"You okay there Misty?" Sonic laughed.

"If that was a Snowhord Echorodon, I'd probably be dead by now." Misty gasped.

"And that's a proven fact." Aaron stated.

"Those my friends though are Echorodons, ninety percent of those are not friendly, and are dangerous, so beware." Marie warned.

They nodded, and Misty got back up on her feet, following Marie. Another cage was near, and Marie stopped, whistling a specific tune, and flapping sounds were made, the cage though was empty, what was there? That was answered when Marie tossed a dead squirrel in. The dead animal landed on the ground, and they waited, Misty then went in again, slowly she went in, a step every three seconds, then out from above, two winged creatures swooped down, missed Misty by what looked like a inch, and tore the dead animal in half, and flew back up. Misty was then seen crouching, covering her head.

"They were a Hedgeoridon and a Chameleoridon." Marie stated, "And I know you guys know which is which."

"Definitely." Shadow nodded, "But why do you keep these creatures here."

"I'm known to be both a breeder and a creature researcher." Marie stated, "I own more of these various creatures, and I'd love to show ya, but…"

"Marie!" Canaras called to her urgently, "Espio's escaped!"

"What?" Everyone gasped, Misty just heard the escaped part, and only wondered as she walked out of the cage and closed it.

"He's gone, all I heard was the door opening, and he flew into the forest! We need to follow him again."

"Oh now this sucks." Misty complained, "we nearly lost Knuckles and Tails, and we literally lose Espio. What next, Sonic's dream coming true?"

"Let's go before he gets to the city again." Sonic demanded, "Did he just leave?"

"Yes." Canaras answered.

"Then lets trace his steps again." Rouge said, "I'll see if he's in air yet."

The gang flew out of Marie's house, and waited for Misty to find Espio's scent, nothing was found, except an amulet. She picked it up and sniffed it, then tried again, but still no sign. Rouge flew up and tried to find him, nothing came to sight at all. Misty shook her head.

"He must have took off right when he got out of the door in flight and invisible." Misty said, "We're too late, and he have this amulet is all."

"Let me see it." Conore said, holding his hand out.

Misty tossed the amulet to him, he caught it and glanced at if for a while, then gripped it in his palms tight, like a angry memory returned to him, which was Misty's prediction.

"Damion." Conore said to himself, "That wasn't Espio at all, not him when we even first caught him!"

"God damn it!" Misty stomped, "We wasted the antidote."

"No we didn't," Marie said, while moving out of the way for Cheese and Cream to come out, "I made more just incase something like this happened."

"He then probably teleported." Knuckles said.

"Probably." Rouge agreed while landing back down, "I mean hey, why not, but why leave a amulet behind?"

"This amulet needs to get out of our sight." Conore said holding it still, "It's a cam, and it's recording what we say."

"How do you know?" Sonic asked him.

"Watch this." Conore then dropped the amulet, and then looked at Knuckles, to Knuckles, he meant punch it. Knuckles came over by the amulet, then kneeled down, and raised his fist up and high, then threw his fist down and hard, and broke the amulet, it shattered with mechanical machinery pieced lying down all over around it, Conore was right.

"How did you know?" Amy asked him.

"On the back, Eggman's sign's on it." Conore pointed, "If you can even make out the pieces."

Sonic seen the logo, and stood, staring at it, still unable to believe he's alive. After seeing his ship explode, he actually thought he was dead, but he then thought that idea was to attack them while unprepared. He then let his head hang low. Shadow turned to him with a glare.

"Are you just going to let Eggman try to destroy us Sonic?" Shadow questioned him, "Cause if you are, say so, and we'll all go over to him, and request to become mutants forever."

"No!" Sonic contradicted, "I'm not going to, and I won't let it happen, he's already got us once, and twice, but the third time, that ain't going to happen at all!"

"Especially after taking Espio." Knuckles shook his fist.

"You guys better go." Marie suggested, "You guys don't have a lot of time, and the full moon's tomorrow."

Aaron and Conore's mouths dropped, their eyes were nearly shrunk to the smallest, and were near white faced, except Aaron was already a white fox. They glanced at one another, and then looked at Marie.

"Did you have to remind us today?" They both said.

"Sorry, at least Kris will be joining you." Marie stated.

"And so will Espio." Misty said, with a blank face.

"Now how can that be?" Cream asked shyly.

"Because I just had a vision, and we're doomed." Misty said grimly.

_What I said was actually true, we are doomed, and this maybe our last time out here in the world, unless, someone could tell me different. This is no matter that we need to fool around with…_

_Nirinia, is Sonic's dream his future? We were near of having Espio, but why was it Damion instead of Espio himself? That I guess has to be figured out on our own…_

_Full moon tomorrow night, this means things are going to spice up a bit, more problems to deal with, and more fighting to do, and maybe even more breaching, although, I do have a idea. But, Sonic's friends are in danger, and some of us are going to be choosing sides whether they'll like it or not…_

_This I hope will be our second chance to capture Espio, and this time, we'll check to see who's been playing hide and seek…_


	9. The Big Regretting and Plan

**Chapter 9: **

**The Big Regretting and Plan**

The Nightstar flew off, with everyone except Tails, who still needed to heal, and was left in Marie's watching until healed fully. The others however all glanced over at Aaron and Conore, wondering why in shock.

"Though we have the ability to shift whenever we want," Aaron explained, "It doesn't mean that there aren't times that we can skip the full moon without paying a price, we skipped a full moon last month, so we have to by force, and without being able to control ourselves."

"Couldn't you tell us a little bit more earlier?" Rouge glared at them.

"People forget Rouge." Amy argued, "Especially in this kind of situation when you've been fooled by another person that isn't the one you're looking for."

"Who is this Damion anyways?" Sonic asked.

"Damion's my ex." Misty said letting her head hang down, "And he joined with Eggman because he was lied to."

"Just so then Eggman can slow us down to, that bastard." Knuckles criticized.

"In that case, do you even care for him?" Shadow asked her.

Misty didn't speak nor she lifted up her head to look, she just kept her head low and silent. Shadow started to become irritated, and stepped in front of her with a loud stomp, and asked her again.

"Well? Do you still care for him after what he'd done to us?" Shadow yelled, "We have a crisis to deal with, and if you still care for him, why don't you just join him and Eggman!"

"Because it's none of your business to know about us." Misty growled, "I actually now really don't care for anyone at all, cause I've been disown, lied to, and been criticized by my own friends, and if people start telling me…"

"Guys, we've got a problem." Yorker cried out.

Misty and Shadow stopped speaking and turned towards Yorker. Conore walked over to take a look on the data radar; it revealed a report about Damion and Espio being near, but not in flight. Conore looked back towards Misty and Shadow, with a glare.

"Alright bicker heads," Conore snarled, "If you guys want to beat up one another, do it with Espio and Damion around, you two are going down into the forest below us."

"What?" The two shouted.

"That's right, and I know both of you are strong, so get going."

"Wait now, hold on." Sonic slowed him down, "Can't we even just help them out a little?"

"They're on their own." Conore said.

"Conore! What in hell are you thinking?" Aaron cried out, "Do you even realize what those two are?"

"I do and I don't care," Conore stated, "All I care is if we get our heads back together, and we start to get even with these guys, and by that I mean…"

He then paused and seen Shadow and Misty both gone, his scowled face then went curious, wondering why they took off so early, though everyone was shocked, they then decided to give Conore the old cold shoulder.

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Shadow rode on Misty's back, holding her think white fur tightly and cautiously. Misty glided through the air slowly, taking time to feel the breeze on her face before a rush hour occurred unexpectedly, for yet this maybe her last stand, after what Conore said, telling her to risk her life after a mistake that her and Shadow didn't mean to cause. To her, what Conore said was nearly like a death penalty to her, even though she loved her cousin so much, sometimes there were times she couldn't bare him. Her thoughts stopped churning in her mind, hearing the sounds of more wings flapping and the breath of death sitting on her occupied shoulders, shaking her to come to the chance to die without being cared for as much ad before. Her body shook in anticipation and expectancy, and so did Shadow, only a little less than her. The flapping of wings got closer, and closer, her heart stopped, then her head went black, and she plummeted to the sea of trees below her, with Shadow gripping her tight. He tried to get his Chaos Emerald, but realized that he left it with Mellony for protection, and only held on eyes closed. They both dove into the forest like a hawk after a swallow, they then soon disappeared into the branches, and the sight of them was gone.

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"Shadow! Misty!" Rouge cried, "They just fell into the forest!"

"Now look what you've done you idiot!" Aaron cried, "You made Misty faint while with Shadow on her back, Espio could wind up with those two right…"

"I know that was a freaking mistake!" Conore snarled, "And I'll go after them even if it…"

The ship then shook vigorously for a moment. Everyone ended up on the floor and bruised, either with a headache, or a bruise spot anywhere on them. Sonic got up quickly and glared over at Conore, then turned over to Yorker.

"What was that?" Sonic asked him.

"That was Espio alright." Yorker panted as he tried to get up on to his seat again, "And I know for a fact Damion's around too. The boosters are now down, and some of our power decreased."

"Okay, we're sorta now in a situation that could ruin us." Knuckles commented as he rubbed his head, "And why is it always my head?"

"We may end up getting captured if anything." Rouge sated while holding her arm in pain, "And to answer your question, because you need to calm down more instead of being a hot head all the time."

"Oh shut up Rouge." Knuckles told her.

The ship trembled again, and then the sound of an engine went dead, that then turned into a worse situation.

"Now engine three's down!" Yorker complained, "What should we do?"

"Aaron and I'll take care of this." Conore said while opening the bottom doorway. Aaron then pushed Conore aside, on top of Knuckles, and closed the doorway, then glared over at Conore.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Aaron yelled, "There's your one way ticket to the plummeting bottom and misery if that's where you want to head?"

"Now we're in bigger trouble, look." Amy pointed out towards Yorker's direction. She was right, Eggman's ship was ahead of them just moving out of the clouds, a screen then popped up with message on it. Yorker typed a password in, Eggman's face was then revealed to all of Sonic and his friend's faces, and Sonic's face went from the darkest of blue, to nearly a light blue in shock.

"So you think you guys have a chance with me, huh?" Eggman laughed, "Not this time, cause now I've got the ultimate weapon of destruction, more powerful than anything that you Sonic can imagine, in which I presume you've seen already?"

"How did you even survive that explosion? That's admirably impossible to escape!" Sonic cried out.

"I had a little assistant, take a look." Eggman then directed the camera towards the black creature they all seen before, Quazaireon. He laughed at them with a laugh similar to Sonic's though a little bit more of an evil touch to the voice.

"You guys better be prepared," He warned them, glancing at them with large black eyes, "Especially you Sonic, you'll never be able to face these things without becoming one of them."

"Bring it on! We can take them." Knuckles challenged.

"Oh really? How about we make a little bet?" Quazaireon demanded, "See these four here?"

The camera then pointed to Misty, Shadow, Charmy, and Vector gripped in ties that wrapped around their ankles, mouths and wrist, Misty however was tied on the muzzle, her feet in pairs and connected, and her tail in between her legs on purpose. Charmy tried to fly, but his wings were tied also together. Sonic and his friend all stared at the sight of the four, willing to make a bet to save them, the camera then turned, showing Eggman, Quazaireon, Espio, and the black hedgehog, Damion.

"If anyone can defeat Quazaireon, Damion, or Espio in a time limit, you'll receive your friends, but also with a special price of two Chaos Emeralds in trade." Eggman stated, "You guys and us will have no such power or upgrades of any sort, except what you come in with naturally. And I hope you know what that means, plus, no one can help you with this fight, it must be done single handed."

"And so what if we lose?" Rouge asked.

"All four of your friends will be what Espio has become, and I'm sure you all know what that means, especially Knux there. Plus, all of your Chaos Emeralds must be turned into our hands the minute you lose." Eggman explained, with the other three either grinning or snickering in the background, "Remember, you must come in with only what you're born with." The screen then went blank, and Eggman's ship was closer.

"So," Yorker turned, "Who wants to fight and take a chance of winning?"

"Well, I would," stated Rouge, but I really don't want to face with that dark hedgehog or that dark creature called Quazaireon. So I'll stay out of it."

"Conore, Aaron?" Yorker asked the two.

"I can't," said Conore, "Full Moon, I'd kill anyone in sight. Even if we did win."

"Same here." Aaron answered.

"Anyone else? Knux, Sonic?"

"I'll do it." Sonic said nodding in agreement, "I can take on a challenge."

"You do realize you have to pick one of the three Eggman stated right?" Conore told him raising an eyebrow at him.

"Who's better to defeat then?" Sonic questioned the group.

"Espio for one." Amy said, "We need him back, so why not?"

"Second Quazaireon," suggested Rouge, "he's helping Eggman with all of this, so he'd be next."

"But what about the Damion guy?" Cream asked, while being so silent.

"If we can ever get Misty, she'll deal with him." Conore said, "He's her ex, so it's their business."

"So Sonic, what'll be?" Yorker asked again.

Sonic stood and thought, and asked himself many questions and answered with some very few reasoning's, but many guesses. _If I challenge Espio, I may end up like him instantly, and plus, he seems a little faster than usual, but I think I can handle that. Quazaireon on the other hand can curse people, and if I ever do attack, he could place a curse on me without leaving a trace of feeling on my body. But maybe…_

"Conore, that computer right there." Sonic highlighted, "Doesn't that show some statistics?"

"Ah! There's a way to win." Conore said in happiness, "Misty like mentioned to me before we met you, said mutants have a special venom, but yet vital to the mind."

"So what about Espio would be good advice?" Amy questioned.

"Espio's weakness," Conore started, "Aaron actually made him transform him to normal by striking the backbone hard, between the two pairs of wings, but that's only if you can risk a chance to get his back a good kick or nail. Otherwise, Espio's not a custom mutant at all. In fact, his species is something very rare, but yet strong at heart. His serpent stretchers are only limited about twenty to fifty feet, even though he has six of them, three for each side, but they're very easy to dodge when you know your footing and positioning. They hate hedgehogs and echidnas, so Sonic, you're gonna have a hell of a time getting near him, so, here's something I'd think about. At the beginning of the challenge, play dead, and lie there for thirty seconds, unless you can hold your breath no longer than that or shorter, anyhow. I'd bet Espio would walk to you in curiosity, since you're playing dead, you quickly grab his feet, and pull him down onto his stomach, and hold him with your knees, then give out a good punch in the head. If though no affect, try to get up quickly and nail him in the back with your feet.

"If though this fails and he suspects you faking, roll quickly out of the way and spin dash into him if possible, the good time to use a lot of your energy is when he's normal.

"I'd also like to state that Espio's venom, which I never got to yet, is not effective until midnight tonight, his venom usually sometimes kill, but mostly, forces his enemy to shape-shift into a mutant like he is. So basically, you're safe unless severely injured by the cuts, bites, and stabs he gives you.

"The Chaos Emeralds, Aaron is getting copies of them from Mellony, who's good at copying Emeralds, so we'll actually give him fake one's instead of real one's. So, win, and we'll be fine for a while, lose, and the plan may backfire for them, and some for us."

"So just stay on my toes and…wait now, what about his camouflage?" Sonic remembered.

"I doubt he'll set you in a scenery, but if he does, look for either pressed ground, moving tree branches, and the sound of the footsteps around you, or wing flapping. On a solid ground arena, just listen and be aware." Conore warned.

Sonic nodded, and already an opening was formed on Eggman's ship, Yorker didn't take a chance, and landed on the landing strip that was still there. They all except Conore, Aaron, and Yorker went to Eggman's arena, which was hidden inside.

_God, damn it, I still don't remember how I fainted during flight, and at least I knew Shadow was okay, for the time being. After all, Charmy and Vector are also here, so we're not the only one's that were also hostages._

_I know one thing, Espio has an up coming surprise tonight, and it's no ordinary surprise, and besides, Marie mistaken the date, of the moon rising full. Mistake one that's bad. I haven't even got the chance to tell them that the reason I was starting to get a little offensive was because I was worried about that night, the night of near death is what I called it._

_Sonic doesn't know this either, mistake two, bad enough, and mistake three, not knowing that the boys and Espio are about to turn…_


	10. The Unfair Advantage and Surprise

**Chapter 10: **

**An Unfair Advantage and Surprise**

They first entered into the ship, walking seamlessly, the halls laid dark, with very little light to bear for the eyesight. Passing through quietly, they were silent, only very few sounds were made by the bongs and bangs of strange metals clinging against one another, it was only a few moments later, they tripped a laser, and were teleported to a large arena.

"Whoa! What happened?" Knuckles asked in surprise.

"We've been teleported to another area of the ship." Amy said, "Look!"

They all looked where Amy pointed, there was a glass shining at them, behind it was Eggman, laughing. Sonic stood his ground and glared at him.

"Eggman!" Sonic called out, "Where are they?"

Eggman then spoke into an intercom, "Well, they're right over here where you can't see them, but you will if you win this fight. So, who are you challenging?"

Sonic stared at him for a moment, then let his head lay low for a while, "Espio." He said in near silence.

"Good, now if your friends would step aside." Eggman then switched on a shield for everyone to step into except Sonic, who stood near the center of the stadium, watching the group walk into the shield, then glanced back at Eggman.

"So, are you ready Sonic? To give your life for one pitiful fight." Eggman asked.

"Bring it all on." Sonic demanded, "I know I can_." Since I can kill two birds with one stone. _He thought.

A board then came down, showing a series of zeroes on it, then Eggman put in timing for him, he only had ten minutes. Sonic's expression didn't change, but in the background, he heard his friends shriek in anguish.

"In ten minutes! He can't defeat him in that timing!"

"Give him fifteen!"

"He should be given some sort of ability just for that!"

"Just give us our friends back!"

Sonic stood quietly, closing his eyes, and then thinking of his dream again. He thought, the pain, the regression, the force, and the memory lost, why did he take this risk just because of one person being mutated? Why Espio? Why couldn't it be himself? Would he survive? A sound of large metal banged in the air, he turned and found the clock starting, and it was already nine minutes and forty-seven seconds. Sonic's eyes went almost gray, until a voice came to his head in the next second, the voice sounded like it was Misty speaking to him, by mind though. The clock stopped, and time froze, what happened?

_Sonic, _the voice spoke, _Ten minutes is a very short time, and you need all of it just to defeat Espio. I'm about to give you the power to shape-shift, but only for the last three minutes, that's when you should have him weak enough to defeat him by then, otherwise give it all you got. This is your only chance to save him and us at the same time, what ever you do, don't strike his face!_

The voice faded, and time shifted, Sonic's first reaction was what was behind him, he spun around, nothing. He stared only for a while, then a screech of laughter came from behind him, he spun back around again and caught Espio just disappearing from sight. Sonic quickly stepped back, but also lost his footing and balance, nearly falling backwards. The next thing he knew, he felt his stomach kicked at, and he flew almost to the other side of the arena. He quickly regained his footing and slid on his feet to the wall, then used it as an accelerator to boost to great speed, spotting and targeting Espio's distant body in sight, he went to a spin dash and charged at Espio. He though missed, and already he's to eight minutes and forty seconds.

Espio made his attack again, he ran on the side wall of the arena in greater speed than normal, back flipped towards Sonic, and elbowed him strong enough to nearly break Sonic's collarbone, Sonic flew backwards again, this time hit the wall, cracking the side at the second the back touched it. He then slid to the floor, where Espio attacked again, using his horn, Espio stabbed Sonic's left side, blood bursting out like a hose with water.

In the background, Sonic could hear his friends shrieking in shock, seeing how fast Espio struck him twice, and wounded him badly just for the first one and a half minutes. Amy cried in horror, and the others tried not to see the sight of Sonic, though Knuckles tried to hold Amy to calm her down. Sonic's eyesight then went black.

He strangely though still was able to feel his blood flowing, and hear the cries, but could see nothing in sight. This was already bad, and for only two minutes. He felt himself lie on the ground on his stomach. His hand moved a little, and already found a pool of blood streaming beside him, it was the wound Espio made, and that wound got worse. Espio struck the other side again, this time using his own fist, cracking few ribs in Sonic's side, this only made matters worse, he couldn't see, his ribs were nearly broken, his collarbone's cracked, and he's got the deepest wound on his side, he felt himself already in the hands of death.

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They sat side by side, wondering what's even happening to Sonic, knowing that he's in pain already. Misty struggled to set herself free first, knowing that everyone else was tied up to their fullest. She used her tip of the muzzle to loosen her front ties. The tied then were slipped off of her, freeing her legs and tail, she quickly then freed her muzzle, allowing her to move her jaws again. Looking around, she spotted no sign of watch, so she untied Shadow, then Vector, and then Charmy, but leaving the mouth tie on Charmy, knowing how he is with his loud mouth.

"What do we do now?" Vector asked while rubbing his jaws in pain.

"Shadow," Misty glanced over, "the Nightstar is right above, on the runway, head there, and bring your Emerald, and a blue Chaos Emerald back here in less than four minutes, please and hurry."

"I shall." Shadow nodded and quickly ran out a window on a sidewall, disappearing out of sight. Misty then turned to Vector and Charmy, "We need to save Sonic and Espio's life, lets go!"

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Sonic flew into another wall, head scared, arms shredded, blind, crippled, and blood gushing out, even though Espio didn't even touch his mutant form. Sonic lied on the floor shredded to pieces, and barely alive, he only could hear the sound of Amy, taking her hammer to the shield, trying to break out to help him. Sonic held his eyes shut, even though he was blind, then started to run through memories, but his thoughts went different, strange voices started to run through his head.

_The time has come…He doesn't know that though, what can we do… He needs to know, also along with his friends…Espio could gain more power if we don't help him…Zondraos, Flashima, Aquarios, and Comestraia, you four then go and help him, she won't have enough time to help him anyways…_

_The fight of both mortal and wolf is unreal…Even though the vampires are now weakening… the lycans are increasing in strength and race… Though they may not realize it, but he's a lycan also, by nature…_

_The full moon! It's rising, lets get out of here… They're turning! Shoot them all… The False Demons, they're coming…Retreat, quickly… No! Astria…Dominoris! Look out…save him, and let him know what he is…But brother…He's our only chance, no matter what, he's my son, and I'll do whatever to let him survive, send him to Vector…vector…vector…_

The voices faded, and his eyesight was regained. Sonic looked at himself, healed and in one piece. He glanced over to Espio, who was on the other side of the arena, burned a little. His name was called, he glanced to the sound, and seen a black hedgehog almost identical to Shadow, who then tossed an object to him from the floor Eggman looked like was once at, it was a necklace of some sort. He seized the necklace into his hands and gave a quick glimpse at it for that second. It had four colored jewels in it, red, blue, green, and yellow, in a peace sign design that held them in place, with a darker green jewel placed in the center of the necklace. He quickly glanced at the hedgehog that still stood at the same spot it still stood in before, it then called to him with a female voice.

"Mutate now! You have that power with that necklace, use it now!"

Sonic heard a snarl in the background, his head spun around to look over his shoulder, distinguished Espio, who was the one snarling at him, he heard Knuckles voice then speak up in panic, he spun his head towards his friends that were still in the shield, listening.

"He's mutating! Transform now Sonic!" Knuckles panicked, "You won't stand a chance against hi if you don't, do it now!"

He nodded, and got up quickly, then slipped the necklace around his neck, then glanced over at Espio one last time normally, he was mutating, like he did before when Knuckles seen him do so. His sight caught a gleam in the necklace. That gleam was coming from the blue gem that gleamed intensively in his sight as he stared, and then his heart began to race.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and imagined his dream again, his form he dreamed he felt was something to use against him, and it was his only chance. His eyes reopened, and his Emerald eyes turned gold and sharp. He glanced back over where his friends were, but the shield and them were gone, he figured they were safe. Another snarl came from behind, in a speedy motion Espio attacked again; pinning Sonic to the wall, and once again, clawed him hard on the shoulders. Sonic gave a grim look at him, nearly willing to snarl back.

"You picked the wrong enemy to deal with." Espio growled, "And you've also picked a decent life to kill upon, but I know you're no rigid core at all, knowing your weaknesses."

"That's where you're wrong Espio," Sonic growled back, "You're coming back with me."

Sonic gave a surprising roar and screech combined, and punched Espio to the center of the stadium. Sonic stood back on his feet and eyeballed Espio's placement, then he felt himself slowly grow. His heartbeat increased speed, breathing faster every second. Claws grew out, and sliced through his only gloves he had. Fangs grew beneath his lips, and as he snarled and roared, his fangs glimmered in the moonlight. His back cracked and popped many times, and formed wings, spreading widely out and quickly. Horns and marking revealed all over his body, along with his short tail increasing length rapidly, with a sharp arrow at the end. His shoes tore, and talons of the feet spurted through, clinching the ground with fury. He then made a last roar and slowly walked towards Espio, who also had mutated fully.

Amy kept her head in Knuckles' arms, afraid to see what Sonic had become, Rouge stood by Shadow, and stared at the fight, worried. Vector kept Charmy low knowing what the sight will do to his mind after wards. Misty came through the doors and started to push switches on the control pads, and finally got the clock to stop at one minute and twenty-three seconds, she sighed and glanced over at Sonic.

"Oh my god." Amy cried in tears, "I can't believe this is happening!"

"Amy it's almost over, calm down." Misty told her, "Besides, Sonic will have some use with that necklace."

"Should we help him?" Rouge asked her.

"Guys!" Yorker ran in with a large cut on his face, almost directly across both of his eyes, they all stared at him in curiosity.

"What happened?" Misty asked with eyes wide open.

"The full moon, they turned, and so will Espio soon!" Yorker cried, "We're too late."

Sonic and Espio clanged together and broke multiple times over, wounding one another very little at such quick speed. Sonic stood up and glared, snarling at Espio furiously, until he spotted the full moon, his golden eyes brightened to a bright yellow as the light hit his eyes. His next memory was he nearly turned to normal, left only his eyes still the same. He quickly glanced at himself, then at Espio, who also turned normal, but in a fetal position on the ground, crying in agony. What was happening?

Two wolf howls came about, and startled Sonic. His first thought was more trouble from Eggman, but his thought was false. Two figures jumped down behind Sonic, both looked similar, one of them silver pelted, and the other pale tan with black markings, these figures that stood were Conore and Aaron, in were fox form. Sonic stared in shock at them for a moment, then heard one last howl, He spun back around and found Espio, though still normal, started to change again. Sonic slowly walked towards him, his gold eyes pin pointing him to the wall, then heard the two wolf boys behind him, following his steps. Espio seen he was out numbered, and started to back away, this was a good sign, he was scared,

An explosion busted into the air, everyone froze, and nothing disturbed. Sonic glanced around and seen nothing, but Espio lying on his side on the floor, a stream of blood flowing slowly from underneath him. Sonic slowly turned his head to his left side, and seen Marie and Mellony, standing in the arena, both with guns smoking. The wolf boys both turned normal, and stared at the two girls for the longest time.

"He's not dead." Marie said, "He's healing to normally."

The others in the balcony all started to look at one another, then Misty rose up and cheered, "We've got Espio!" Woo hoo!"

They also cheered with Misty, and Amy cried with joy jumping happily up and down. Sonic though only smiled, then turned to Marie.

"Thanks," He thanked her, "I though I'd have to kill him just to do so."

Marie nodded, "The Nightstar's waiting, lets go and get out of here."

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Only moments later, they stored Eggman and Quazaireon into an enclosed room with no light, and took off with all the information they had on the ship, from computer plans to experiments. The Nightstar then left the ship, and sped towards to Night City. Sonic stared at the necklace he was given by he strange hedgehog, that then reminded him of the voices he heard before he transformed. His eyes looked up and seen Misty standing on a chair in front of Sonic, her dark blue eyes looking at Sonic's golden eyes with a raised eyebrow.

"Can I have my necklace back now?" Misty asked.

"Sure." Sonic replied, then stopped, and remembered it was a hedgehog that gave him the necklace, not Misty, "But it's not yours."

"Oh yes it is Sonic." Misty smiled, and grabbed the necklace from Sonic's grip, then slipped it down to her neck. Her body began to glow; the glowing body then took a different shape, shifting to a hedgehog looking outline. The glowing then faded, and what came to be was the same hedgehog that gave in the necklace in the first place.

"Like I said earlier," she spoke, "It's surely mine, and I may look like Shadow, but I'm really still the same gal in a fox's fur coat."

Black and red, black clothes with fire all over, two additional quills by her shoulders, and shoes almost identical to Shadow's. A headband strapped around her forehead, and five alternated colored bangs hung above her face, and the last familiar thing, was the scar on her left eye, like her fox form.

"Oh my god it is you Misty!" Knuckles said in shock.

"Don't ever judge a book by its cover." Misty said winking at Sonic. Sonic seen the wink, and smiled, and winked back, his eyes though still golden, he was as normal and happy as can be.

_This is who I am, and this is what I'll be forever is all I'll say…_


	11. Back To The Drawing Board

**Chapter 11: **

**Back To the Drawing Board**

They all stared at her, all except for Yorker, Conore, Marie, Mellony, and Aaron. Sonic didn't though stare, he gave more nearly of an aroused look, stunned and in a day dream world. His thoughts though were then broken when Amy spoke.

"Sonic, did you hear what she asked?" Amy asked him.

"Huh?" Sonic wondered as his head snapped back into the real world.

"I asked if you wanted to pick up Tails before we leave Espio with Marie." Misty repeated.

"Oh, yeah, he's probably worried anyways." Sonic replied.

Knuckles gave Sonic a raised eyebrow in curiosity, after seeing Sonic in the days for that moment. Amy shook her head slightly, still not understanding Sonic. That reminded him, his eyes, they're still the same, as before, will they change back?

"Your eyes will stay the same by the way." Misty answered.

"That's right," Rouge pointed out, "I was beginning to wonder if Sonic's eyes weren't what they were, they're now gold."

"That's okay though." Misty stated, "Because it resembles new and more powerful strengths, and weaker weaknesses, what I gave him caused his eyes to change color."

"My dream form." Sonic remembered, "But why that particular form?"

"What you see is what you get, those gold eyes signify a gift from one that gave you the gift, me." She smiled.

"She can do that with only the people that prove in danger or have seen a hint of the future." Conore explained, "Besides, Mellony came with the Emeralds, but only one of them was the transformation one. So now, Misty can shift into whatever she desires when she wants, well, in some cases."

"So what I used against Espio is what I now own for the rest of my life?" Sonic asked in amazement.

"Correct, and also I should state that…"

"Guys, you won't believe this!" Mellony interrupted, "Come quick!"

They all rushed into the room that Espio lied in, unconscious and non-mobile, though yet still was breathing. Mellony pointed out to his left arm, and shown what looked like a tattoo on his arm, but also like a paw print tainted black, a little bit of water was on his arm, showing that Mellony tried to remove it. Knuckles glanced to Mellony with a straight face.

"Quazaireon put this on him, and it's looking like that it's permanent." Mellony stated, "Looks like when Espio became stable and controllable, Quazaireon placed this so that the injection would stay there, I tried to use a T-needle, but it wouldn't even budge through his skin!"

"A T-needle?" Amy pondered.

"This needle," Conore raised into view, which looked very large for just a needle, compare it to a T-virus needle in Resident Evil, and it's larger than that, "Are you dead serious Mellony?"

Mellony snagged the needle from Conore's hand, and raised her fist at Espio's chest, and without thinking twice, thrashed her fist to his chest, and the needle snapped, the end cracked from it's placement, and spun straight into the wall next to Misty, who then stood with her face turning white. The broken injector was broken to Espio's chest, and everyone stared in shock. Mellony then looked up at the group.

"Now it's proven." Mellony stated.

"Wasn't he wounded earlier?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, but that's probably one reason why that print is there, to heal him of any wounds."

"And I thought you were joking." Knuckles said wiping his forehead.

"With something like this Knux? I know she's right." Rouge pointed out.

"Next time can anyone say we need safety glasses?" Misty sorrowed a little.

"You're fine, calm down." Conore laughed.

"So what do we do?" Amy asked.

"Nothing." Marie stated from behind the crowd.

Everyone spun around and seen her leaning on the doorway, her arms crossed and head down. Her eyes were closed and no other word spoke out. Sonic's eyes descended to a dark gold in shame, knowing what Marie means, after a sudden voice spoke in his head that sounded like Marie's.

_The curse is to protect Espio, _he read, _that print is a protector so that his skin isn't harmed, this is almost like a bone covering with so many layers around the marrow. And yet, this curse will last for a while, we basically have to let him go again in order to save our necks. Unless, we could take a risk and try this once to heal him a bit instead of having no affect at all._

"Marie, we could try at least once, I mean for Knux and all." Sonic commented.

Marie's head rose and glared at Sonic, which to Sonic meant he wasn't suppose to say that out loud. The group looked over, confused looks stirred, except Misty's, who helped out with Sonic, but not Marie at all.

"He means that we should at least try to heal Espio for sake, I mean, hey, he's pretty damn strong if you ask me." Misty stated, "And besides, wasn't the full moon yesterday?"

"Yeah, so?" Aaron shrugged.

"That paw print will probably fade then by tonight, which means…" Misty smiled.

_---------------_

"You what?" Quazaireon complained, "What do you mean it'll fade out tonight?"

"The injection I thought would last longer, but I guess not." Eggman stated.

Quazaireon banged his head against the metal wall by one of Eggman's large computer, his anger scrolled through his head, as his head banged, a echo sound was made, but only a short one for every hit. Damien then entered, his laugh interrupting the room, the sound then turned into a small chuckle, then a small relief of happiness. Quazaireon was then disturbed by his presence, and spun around, only to find also with Damien, a female dull violet hedgehog with hair flaring out from the sides with small red highlights along the tips of her hair, a small scar glided across her right eye, but very hard to notice from Eggman's footing. She stood with dark clothing flaring out from the bottom, by her feet that were enclosed in high heels that glistened a little. Behind her a thin cape fluttered a bit, showing mush air movement. Quazaireon's face deepened with some curiosity, he then spoke.

"Ramaindna?" Quazaireon questioned.

"Why if it isn't the Shadow of the Night, and the second greatest scientist in the world." She spoke with her voice almost sounding vampire-like.

"Second greatest?" Eggman questioned her, "If I'm second greatest, then tell me, who is it that is?"

"You're looking right at the one." She grinned.

_---------------_

They're hearts sunk with misery, everyone sat and stared at the ground, outside the room they were once in. Sonic got up, and walked more to the back of the ship, a door slid open left, he entered, followed by Misty with her quick steps, the door then slid shut. Sonic heard Misty's steps and spun around, his face was pure rage, and he growled fiercely at her. Misty froze and her ruby eyes darkened to fear as she glanced at Sonic.

"I thought you'd be more of help!" Sonic complained, "Maybe you should just go ahead and tell me that everyone else will join him!"

"What are you complaining for? What did I do to you?" Misty asked him.

"You made Espio…" Sonic then stopped, and shook his head, his head snapped, and he settled, "Sorry, I thought you were Eggman for the moment."

Misty laughed, "It's that time."

"But since we're alone," Sonic said while staring down, "Who are you really, and what in hell is going on?"

"Originally I'm Misty RedFlame." She started, "I'm sixteen and I used to travel alone, until I found my cousin and his gal, soon we became a team, or the Full Moon Clan. And I'm trying to help you guys to stay protected from Eggman, since now we know what he's up to."

"But I mean, what's the future like?" He questioned.

"That I cannot say." Misty sighed, "But I do pray that Nirinia will say that it'll be back to normal soon."

"Nirinia?"

"My guardian, she is the one that limits me on my abilities."

"Oh."

Misty then sat on the floor, and Sonic did the same, and sat by her, both away from the doorway and quiet for a moment. Both felt heat radiating from one another, and both felt well with it, the heat, to both of them, felt too good. Sonic scooted closer to her, just to get more of the heat. Misty glanced over to him and raised an eyebrow, along with a small grin. Sonic blushed a little, and broke the silence.

"You know, for a female hedgehog, you're kinda hot." He commented.

"You haven't seen anything yet sweetie." Misty laughed, she then quickly kissed Sonic heavily, her lips concealing his, before though she was able to get up, he grabbed her around the waist and held her tight. Misty put her hands on his shoulders, and tried to resist him kissing her back, but fell with him, the warmth carried her to him, and his tongue slipped into her mouth, drenched, and slick. He gripped her tighter, his face sweating with heat, and his eyes closed in relaxation, and a desire for love. Misty's head then trapped a voice that echoed, it was Amy's voice, and this triggered her to start struggling.

_Where's Sonic and Misty? _She heard Amy ask in her mind, _did they go in here?_

Misty then shape shift into her fox form and jumped out of Sonic's arms, and stood on the other side of the doorway they were by. Sonic's peaceful mind then took a knock into the head, falling over and banging his head on a bar that stretched to the wall to his left. He then collapsed to the floor gripping his head, and at the same moment, Amy opened the door, and Misty walked out.

"He kinda had a accident." She stated as she walked by, "And he's a bit warm, so he may have a fever for that moment." _But really he's having more of a heat wave, and less of a fever that I mentioned. _Misty said to herself and snickered a little in laughter.

"Misty…" Conore glared at her, "Next time you do that, it'll be told out loud."

Misty grinned innocently, while sweat dripped down her face. _Damn, him and those stupid cameras._

_---------------_

"So, you're Ramaindna, I now see why." Eggman smiled.

"Where is Espio anyhow?" She asked him.

"The Full Moon Clan has him, along with Sonic and his friends." Damion stated.

Ramaindna shook her head, her eyes though silver, turned dark gray with shame, she then glanced back up at the scientist.

"That injection you made, where is it?"

"Right here." Eggman handed the injection to her, and yet, coagulated blood sat on the needle. She stared at it, and then smiled.

"I see you didn't clean off Espio's own blood off of this, which does much good for me." She then waved her fingers over the injection, and it glowed for a second, and then faded to its normal violet color. She then handed it back to Eggman.

"Maybe we then can capture him again, and this time it won't fade, this time, this will keep him as he is at this moment, a mutant." She laughed, "I'll be back."

She then disappeared, only a small puff of dark web stretched out and thinned out. Quazaireon glanced over to Eggman.

"You know, she is really a good addition to the team." He stated, "In fact she's a good opponent to the others."

_---------------_

Night fell quickly, and the ship was still airborne, Marie, Vector, and Charmy left by a teleportation machine to get Tails, and everyone found a place to sleep for the moment. Misty curled up on Sonic's lap as her fox form, and slept peacefully, while Amy leaned against Sonic's shoulder and cuddled with him. Knuckles slept on the long cushioned bench with a large cover draped on him. Conore and Yorker dozed at their seats for directing the ship's direction, and Aaron and Mellony, slept next to one another on the floor. Rouge hung upside down and had her wings folded around her for warmth, and Shadow slept in a corner with a cover around him. Pure silence was all that was around, until a small dark web thickened, and dark smoke flew around, and shifted to a hedgehog form. Ramaindna stood and glanced around to only find everyone sleeping. She moved to the room Espio lied in, still fast asleep. Her eyes glowed, and she felt his arm, it wasn't long then, was when she and Espio disappeared out of sight once and again, and what was left behind was only a small black web strand.

_---------------_

The group slept peacefully, well, except Misty, who soon fell off of Sonic's lap and collapsed. She woke up and shook her head, her head then thumping in pain. She slowly stood up and stumbled a little, her legs still at rest and not keeping her balanced. She fell over and landed on her stomach, and lied there, she sighed, with only the word sleep running through her head. Sonic then woke up and glanced at Misty, who lied by the door her and he were once by. He looked at Amy for a moment, and stuck a pillow where her head lied, and held her until she lied where he once was; and she still was in great sleep, not knowing Sonic's movement. Sonic then glanced over at Misty, who was looked back at him with a deadbeat face.

"What are you doing up?" Misty asked quietly.

"I should be asking you that." Sonic replied softly.

"I fell off of you and landed hard, and now I can't get back to sleep." She whined calmly.

"You know," Sonic smiled, "No one's awake."

Misty glanced up and held her head up high, but her eyes turned dark, "What you're thinking is something I won't do here, especially with Amy." She then shape shift to her hedgehog form, her shirt white with a small wolf picture on it, also wearing black and red shorts on. And Sonic couldn't help noticing, but no bra she wore.

"Okay, so I like you in a attractive way, I can't help it, besides…" Misty then slapped her hand onto Sonic's mouth to hush him; she then dragged him into the nearby doorway, which then slid shut. She then released Sonic, and stood with her arms crossed.

"Okay so I was a bit loud." Sonic said.

"You're lucky Amy wasn't awake." Misty sighed, "Look, I also like you, but only as a friend, I don't want to break a friendship between us and the group."

"Then why did you kiss me?"

"As someone who cares for the team, I only do that once in a while. And you're one of many that need to be cared for."

"True, Amy on the other hand is annoying, but hey, she's a friend."

"True." Misty nodded, "But hey, I was going to leave until you grabbed me tight."

"Sorry, it's just the warmth I haven't felt for a while." Sonic stated while sweating a little.

Misty shook her head a little, "I haven't even known you for a week and already we hit."

Sonic laughed, "At least."

"We should get back to sleep So-" Before Misty could finish his name; he grabbed her arms and kissed her. Misty's eyes went to shock, this time it wasn't her fault. She then let herself go and wrapped her arms around Sonic, and followed through into his kiss, closing her eyes, she then was only going to let this slip one last time. His hands slipped around her sides and held her closer, while his tail wagged with desire. He slipped his hands underneath Misty's shirt, and removed it for her, her chest black with little tan oval like Sonic. He then took her back and started to French kiss her wildly, and during that, he slowly removed her shorts, and both fell onto the floor, in tremendous heat. Misty gripped Sonic's shoulders tightly, and started to breathe heavy, her chest rising greatly. The bottom underwear slipped, and they connected.

_---------------_

Ramaindna walked through the sliding doors with Espio in her arms. Both Eggman and Quazaireon turned and seen her, and stayed secure where their at. She walked forward and set him on a table beside a lamp that hung above him. She then momentary looked at Eggman.

"Strap him in, and we'll wait for him to wake." Ramaindna told him.

"Now then," Eggman said while walking over and starting to strap Espio in on the table, "So we're going to make him suffer?"

"That's the only way this will work, it's part of the mutation, and he must suffer while awake." She pointed out, "Where's Damion?"

"He's currently asleep." Quazaireon stated, "As usual, he wants to be ready if he ever does come across Misty again."

Ramaindna froze at the sound of the name, her face then turning almost to a light purple. Her mind then scrolled with questions.

_Misty? She's still alive?_ She wondered, _but I though she was killed at the reunion._

"Are you okay?" Quazaireon asked her.

"Nothing, I'm fine." She replied.

Eggman had just finished strapping Espio in when he woke up and shrieked. Espio spun his head around in circles to see where he was. Ramaindna turned to him and smiled.

"Well, that was a bit fast for a dreadful sleeper." She stated while standing by him.

"Where in hell am I?" Espio growled.

"Hehehehe, you're back with us again." Quazaireon laughed.

"No, no! Not again!" Espio cried.

"This time it's a fact you're joining us." Eggman said while holding the injection where the print sat on his arm.

"No! Please! No! I beg of you!" Espio cried out.

Eggman gripped his arm firmly, "Say goodbye to your soul."

Espio cried out in agony, and the injection was stabbed into him, and caused pain to strike, causing his cry to go to a scream. The scream then ceased, and his eyes closed, his body shut down and became motionless once and again. Ramaindna smiled and waved her arm over Espio, who then disappeared out of sight.

"Look in the casement room, he'll be there." She told the two.

Eggman nodded, and went over to his computer, and commanded his computer to view the room. Cells came into view, and then the picture switched to show Espio on the ground, who twitched a little.

"This injection is much faster, so you'll get better results." Ramaindna stated, "So he may change a little bit more, instead of still having the old form."

_---------------_

Espio woke up again, not knowing what hit him. He sat on his knees and stared at the cold bars in front of him. He clutched his own sides, colder than he was, and his mind full of worries. Tears started to run down his face, crying, crying for help, and he was willing to do anything to stay as he is, and not join Eggman and become something he isn't. He felt his heart sank in disgrace, and he started to bawl.

_Why me?_ He cried in his mind, _I don't understand, I don't want to see myself kill my own flesh and blood, and my friends, I don't need this in my fucked up life!_

"So what is it that you want?" a female voice echoed.

Espio stopped, and glanced around, and seen nothing, he picked himself up and stood, defensive and cautious.

The voice came back, "You're safe for the moment."

Espio glanced in front of him, and seen a transparent figure walking towards him, going right through bars and airborne droplets frozen at their placement. This was an ancient looking gold hedgehog, a white and gold wardrobe that she wore, like an Egyptian. A gold headband was strapped around her head, with sapphires in the center, and other jewels on the band. Rings clamped to her fingers, and many wristbands that wrapped to the elbows. Her eyes were as blue as the sapphires on her.

Espio's face stiffened, "Who are you?"

"My name's of no importance," she spoke, "I'm here to make a deal with you."

"For my situation?" Espio asked her.

"Yes," she answered, "Listen, here's what I can do, I can remove the injection and place you back at your team's place, and what will be left here will only be a small glimpse of you. You will though will have to after you get to the harbor get back to the Nightstar by foot and some flight."

"What's the catch?" Espio asked her.

_---------------_

Only an hour past, and the sun began to rise, and the Nightstar was still in flight in the clouds. The only one awake was Mellony, who wandered around a bit and checked the location they were in, which was shown to her as "above Sunorian Plains." She nodded a little and decided to wake Conore with a flick on the head. Conore blinked a little then looked up at Mellony, then smiled.

"Get up wolf boy, we've got to pick up Tails." She told him, "Wake the others."

"Uh, right, might as well." Conore yawned as he stretched.

That was when Misty woke up. She stretched a little, and scratched her shoulders a little, until she looked at herself, she had nothing on her except a cover over her and Sonic, who was still asleep. She nearly shrieked, and grabbed some cover to shield her chest, her eyes almost just pure white, and her face in shock. She closed her eyes and grinded her teeth, she was hoping she got drunk during this time. She then started to hear everyone awaken. Without thinking twice, she shifted to her fox form and quickly lied by Sonic's feet at the other end. She also quickly moved her clothes out of sight, and right when she got to Sonic's feet, the door slid open, and Misty only acted like she was partly awake.

Knuckles stood in the doorway, and Misty didn't move, knowing that anything could happen, the next thing she then realized, she was drenched in cold water, and she jumped up and shrieked.

"Yipe!" Misty cried out.

She landed almost on Sonic and ended up on her back, her face in shock from the water. Knuckles laughed at her, just for the relief of it. Sonic stirred, and looked up, and seen his feet wet after the water was poured. His gold eyes then glanced at Misty, and seen her expression, he sighed in relief, happy that she became a fox just in time.

"Get up you two, we got a day's worth, and we also got a problem." Knuckles stated.

"We'll be out in a few." Sonic stated as he slid the door shut, he then fell back on the pillow, gazing at the ceiling, and Knuckles thankfully were outside of the room. Misty snagged her clothes and went behind a box.

"Please tell me we got drunk off of Whiskey and did that without even knowing it." Misty begged.

"Sadly no, we didn't get drunk." Sonic sighed, "Okay so that's it?"

"We're now not doing anything else, you've got Amy, and I need to get more closer with…" Misty then stopped, and glanced down at the floor, she quickly shifted back to normal, and her clothes reappeared on her. Sonic sat back up and seen Misty standing up with her head down, he wondered, what was it that came to her that made her stop.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked, "With who anyhow."

"No one." Misty sighed, here, put these on."

Misty tossed Sonic some clothes, and walked out, sliding the door behind her. Sonic sat and stared at the clothes she gave him. He saw a black vest and blue jeans, along with a medallion with an engraved "S" on both sides of the medallion. He glanced at the door, then the clothing, he then realized he went a little too far with this, he felt what he had done may become a problem in the future. _Crap_ was his final thought.

_---------------_

"What! He's gone!" Quazaireon cried out.

"Why that's impossible! How can he have left?" Eggman yelled, "I don't even have him on my tracking system."

"Actually, it is possible," Ramaindna stated calmly, "Very possible."

"How's that?" Eggman questioned in distress.

"Have you even heard of Guardians?" She asked.

"Was I suppose to mention that to him?" Quazaireon questioned.

She ignored him, "These Guardians can take anyone out of a situation, and help them to the fullest, but along comes a payback later on in the future, sometimes unexpected."

"So, a Guardian may have taken him." Eggman wondered.

"More than likely. Although, chances are that he still has the injection in him, since I know of no Guardians that would remove something like the injection, otherwise they pay a dearly price for doing so."

"And what's that?" Eggman crossed his arms.

"Anything related to old legends of the past, whether if it's a plague, or a shifting act. I've heard of people nearly dying from these prices."

"So, Espio's not getting away without a equal amount of suffering." Eggman predicted, and Ramaindna nodded.

"Well then, I guess we do have a second chance, don't we." Eggman stated as Ramaindna nodded lightly again, "Well then, I guess we're going to have to snag someone else."

"Knuckles," Quazaireon said, "If anyone, he was the first to see the mutation, so he's next."

"Will do. Back to the drawing board then." Eggman said as he walked over and pressed a green button, which then unlocked a door, revealing an amulet, "But maybe we'll try something different for once."

Ramaindna snatched the amulet from him and glanced at it, then stared up, "Where did you get this?"

"I found it at one of my older bases." Eggman replied.

"You're lucky it's not in Espio's hands right now, or we could've had something more bizarre on our hands." Ramaindna sighed in relief.

_I was disappointed in what I have done that one night, I wish I refused, I wish I slapped him, but what is done is now done…_

_After seeing Espio gone a few moments later, we all fell over in great exhaustion, but from what I read, he's safe, we just need to head back to the harbor, then we'll know how he is now, at least he's no longer in Eggman's hands…_

_But that hedgehog, she's so familiar, how is it that I know her, dear Nirinia, thank you for helping Espio, but please tell me, who is this hedgehog…_


	12. No Other Way, Taking No Chance

**Chapter 12: **

**No Other Way, Taking No Chance**

Very little chatted, and many sat silent, after find Espio gone, again. Misty was still in shock from that night, still. Sonic sat for a moment, cross armed, and staring at a window, still wondering where Espio is.

"Guys, we need to do something about Eggman too you know." Rouge stated, "At least before he goes too far."

Sonic then spurted, "Me and Misty did it last night."

Everyone gasped, and Misty's head went down instantly. Sonic sat back for a moment, then his eyes got small, he then realized that he thought out loud.

"Um, hehehe." Sonic started to sweat, "So I guess I thought a bit loudly?"

Misty got up, opened the doorway to outside, shifted to her fox form, but with wings, and without saying a word, flew out of sight. Sonic started to sweat even more, then turned to the group, who all glared at him, except Amy, who's heart was broken, she quickly got up and ran out of sight, and into a different room, shutting the door behind her.

Conore growled, "You just couldn't help yourself? So you actually did it with Misty and not actually admitting feelings? You haven't even known us for a week and already this has happened!"

"But, honestly, she…"

Rouge came up to Sonic and slapped him across the face, "You fucking bastard, how could you not think of Amy first?"

Sonic sat on the floor rubbing his face, and he began to complain in his mind. _What have I done now? It's just that she herself, she was so, sexy and, hot. I like other women, but this was unreal!_

_---------------_

She flew swiftly across the sky, through clouds she burst through, her head blank, after just saying what happened, she needed to get out and relax a little. She thought for a while, and kept her head low, she knew exactly what she'll be dealing with when she gets back to the Nightstar, even though she's always chickened out on many things related to these kind of situations, she sighed, and started to glide a little. A vacuum noise started to come into hearing range, she opened her eyes and listened, and the next thing she knew, she lost control of her flight, and was sucked into what looked like a giant pipe, that was connected to Eggman's ship.

Her head banged against metal, and she thumped down with the air being sucked. She tossed and rolled, her wings disappeared, and she rolled in even faster.

"Ack! eep! ow! ouch! nah! yeow!" she cried out as she tumbled, she seen a hole below her, and quickly ran down with the wind, and was able to get inside the hole, and rest from herself being banged around literally. She panted profoundly; her claws unsheathed, and gripped the floor tight, or at least tried to.

"Anymore banging around and I could've ended up loosing my memory." Misty said gasping. The winds howled behind her, and she ran forward, following the tunnel, which then soon brought her to a ventilation system. She glanced around, and seen three different paths, and as her random choice, she went right, and continued to follow the tunnel, until voices were heard. The voices were coming from a grate in front of her, and she quietly ran towards it, and glanced down. Between the grates, she seen Eggman, Quazaireon, Ramaindna, and Damion, all discussing a plan, all gathered around a computer, and Eggman held an amulet in his palms, but for what?

"That amulet is like a power amulet," Ramaindna explained, "Light or Dark, depending on the holder, great energy rises in their bodies, causing their body to grow larger, and much stronger, and if the holder has a secondary form of a mutant, they're guaranteed that they'll be even the most powerful of that particular mutant."

"A stronger formation, huh?" Eggman grinned, "Could Espio wear this and grow into something stronger than Knuckles himself?"

"He could." Quazaireon commented to him, "But first, we need to take care of Knuckles, and that will be done with the injection, and only, our next target will then be Shadow. Since he _is_ the ultimate life form."

Misty was about to growl, but knew if she did, she'd be in for it, but even worse came, the grate she stood on creaked a little, then broke. "Aaaah!"she cried out, and she tumbled down right on top of Damion, with the grate right on his head. The other three jumped back in surprise, and then seen it was Misty on Damion. Misty looked around and started to panic lightly once and again.

"Um, hi?" Misty said while raising an eyebrow while smiling and panicking, "If you don't mind, I'll be going now, so um…bye!"

Misty quickly bolted for the door, and ended up running her head into it, not knowing it was lock. She then spun around and seen Eggman with an injection right at the throat, she then started to panic even more.

"Okay I'll talk, what do you need to know?" Misty cried.

Damion pushed Eggman aside and grabbed Misty's throat and started to choke her, "One thing you can tell us is how you got in here without being detected."

"Would you believe me if I said the air conditioning system?" Misty replied.

"Move aside you black head!" Quazaireon pushed.

Eggman held the injection back at her throat again, "How about where Espio is?"

"Espio?" Misty wondered, "You guys were the last ones that had him, otherwise I don't know, if anything, he's back at the plains that we passed over."

"What about our belongings?" Quazaireon questioned her.

"Belongings, wh-what belongings?" Misty panicked.

Eggman then stabbed her with the injection, and she screeched, Eggman then spoke fiercely "Just shift to normal!"

Misty choked, and shifted to her hedgehog form, the injection was then taken out, and she held her throat painfully. Eggman sat the injection down, and grabbed her firmly, then pinning her to the wall.

"You know what they are!" he shouted, "So where are they?"

"They've been disposed of, and at least Espio's now gone, so there's nothing you can do to recover anything that-"

"Let her go!" a voice shouted.

The group spun around and glanced over at the voice's positioning, a figure then jumped down from above, and in everyone's amazement, it was Espio.  
"Help me…" Misty choked while still being held by Eggman.

"Let her go now!" Espio snarled.

Eggman then pulled Misty to his chest, grabbed the injection and started to put pressure on Misty's neck with it, and at the same time, Misty began to whine a little, "One step and she's ours."

Espio stood where he landed, and glared at the group, "Look, I've got a Chaos Emerald here, and I can trade you for her, just release her!"

"Show the Emerald!" Ramaindna commanded.

Espio revealed a silver Emerald that shined in their faces, "Now hand her over!"

"On three, I release her, and you toss it over here!" Eggman suggested, still holding Misty tightly, in return, Espio nodded, even though he had an idea in his mind.

"One…two…three!" Eggman released Misty, and Espio tossed the Emerald towards Eggman, but also followed through with it. Eggman quickly grabbed Misty back and the Emerald, and shoved Espio back away, causing him to slide on his side. He then lied there, and glancing at Misty's face, which was in distress.

"I hope you enjoy tonight if that's how much you care for her." Eggman laughed.

Espio raised an eyebrow a little, and then a striking pain hit his head, he quickly fell back on the floor and became unconscious. Quazaireon then dropped in front of his body, laughing a little. Misty's eyes started to tear, and she closed her eyes, and she also, took a hit in the head, blacked out and unconscious.

_---------------_

"Guys, looks like we've spotted Eggman again!" Yorker shouted.

"Again? I thought he'd be out of our way for a while." Rouge sighed.

Conore looked through the window in front of Yorker, "He's headed right towards us, why?"

"Don't know, but I'm getting a message already from him." Yorker said as he punched in a password, then a screen of Eggman's face was shown to the group, who then all glanced over at the screen.

"I see you haven't paid much attention to your crew." Eggman stated, "Looks like you're missing someone."

"Yeah we know," Aaron rolled his eyes, "We're waiting for her anyhow."

"I wouldn't just sit there if I were you, guess what I've got." Eggman then directed the camera into a cell, which held both Misty and Espio. Misty's shirt and pants were gone, and Espio's shoes were also gone, both were tied by the ankles and wrist, then tied to one another, mouths sealed with tape. They cried in agony and misery, begging for help while struggling to get free. The view then changed back viewing Eggman's face once and again.

Mellony then couldn't help herself, "What in god's name of hell are you planning now you fucking bastard!"

"Well wouldn't you like to know?" Eggman grinned, "Besides, you can come and pick these two up if you hurry fast enough."

"You watch yourself," Knuckles warned, "One small wrong move and you'll be in for it."

"I think it's your hedgehog friend here that needs to watch herself, since she is a female…" The screen then went blank, everyone sat in curiosity, but Sonic stood in anger.

"I don't like the sound of that." Rouge commented, "They way he said that since Misty's a female, then blank."

"I don't like the idea I have in my mind right now," Sonic scowled, "But I know one thing, Eggman's gone too far with this one!"

"Wait! What are you guys doing?" Conore turned and seen both Sonic and Knuckles by the side door to outside. Sonic's eyes then started to glow; he then turned his head back to Conore.

"Tell Eggman that he has company, and not to open fire, or else." Sonic lastly reminded, he then jumped out of the doorway, followed by Knuckles, the door then closed behind them.

"Boy," Rouge sighed, "are we dealing with the most ridiculous problems, Amy's still in that room, Misty's caught, and Tails was something he wasn't…"

"After this, we need to head to Marie's." Conore stated, "Otherwise I agree Rouge. Hold on one second."

A picture of Eggman's face reappeared again, and this time, he didn't seem too happy.

"What do you want?" Eggman questioned.

"You've got company on the way," Conore told him, "Open fire, and you'll be sinking into the forest full of deadly things."

_---------------_

Quazaireon stood in front of a doorway, guarding it with eyes wide open, and his ears high in alert, his nose twitched every once in a while, but he never moved from his placement, until Ramaindna appeared.

"Eggman said to leave," Ramaindna stated, "I was to do what was told now."

Quazaireon nodded, and walked off, away from the doorway. Ramaindna then quickly opened the door and entered, the door sliding shut. At the first sight, Misty started to struggle again, knowing the possibilities of what could happen. Espio then seen her and started to struggle with her. Ramaindna only laughed.

"You two aren't going anywhere, not for another hour at least, who knows, maybe not for a week." She laughed, "Though you two look so wonderful together, even though only one of you is a virgin sadly."

Espio looked over at Misty, and she did the same, both shrugged. Misty then quickly growled at Ramaindna, angered by how uncomfortable she felt. Ramaindna smiled evilly.

"Keep trying, but not too much, you'll need energy later on." She warned Misty, "But my dear Espio," She grabbed his chin lightly with her hand, "I see that you've escaped once, but I guess you're just irresistible to forget, so you're here again, this time, worth the while since we have now a breeder."

Misty's eyes shrunk. _Breeder! Oh now I know what's going on, this ain't good at all!_

Espio growled, his gold eyes shining in Ramaindna's eyes with rage, he knew exactly what she was saying. Ramaindna then released his cheek, and stepped out of the cell without even opening the doors.

"Enjoy your moment of hard love." She taunted them, snapped her fingers, then left. Both Misty and Espio found themselves released, and Espio ran towards the bars and tried with all of his might to try and get through the bars. It was worthless, nothing budged, and he was scared to death.

Misty bit through the tape, and spitted out a chunk of the tape that she tugged back a little. Espio seen her do so, and started to do the same, he soon then became successful.

"This is now way to bad." Misty said to herself.

Espio spun around and faced her, "You think it's bad, maybe I should've just stayed at the harbor instead of coming back here!"

"I wish the same." Misty sighed.

Espio's faced then changed to melancholy, "Y-you do?"

"Yes, you don't need this." Misty said while cuddling herself up, "We all had enough problems in our lives, especially you guys."

Espio felt guilty and sat by her, "Look, I know I've been turned into a mutant and all, but I mean hey, will that change anything?"

"Yes, it will." Misty stated while glaring at him, "I know that for a fact."

"Hmm…" Espio wondered, "What does she mean by hard love anyhow?"

Misty glared at Espio again and raised an eyebrow, Espio glanced back at her, sat for a moment and thought, then realized what it meant, and this wasn't good at all.

"We're going to rape one another." Espio said in sparse voice.

"More like being forced to do so."

"This is going to be the most awkward thing I would have ever done in my life."

_---------------_

Aaron paced across the room nervously, sweating all over, his eyes looking bloodshot, and his teeth grinded together in fear. Annoyed by this action Conore stood up.

"Would you quit that Aaron?" Conore asked fiercely.

"Sorry man, it's just," Aaron apologized, "just the fact of what Eggman said could mean anything."

"Hopefully Sonic and Knux will get there in time to stop him before any further moves are made." Rouge stated.

"That's what everyone hopes." Mellony confirmed.

A door slid open, and entered the room was Amy, finally relaxed and no longer in tears. Everyone glanced over to see her, not even saying a word. Amy then finally spoke up after many moments of crying.

"Where's Sonic?" Amy asked quietly.

"Most likely in Eggman's ship by now my friend." Conore told her.

She sat down on a bench across from Shadow's bench, "What's going on anyhow?"

Aaron sighed, "If you came out a little sooner, you'd know."

In front of Yorker a screen popped up viewing Eggman again. Yorker stumbled backwards in surprise; not knowing the screen of his face came into view so quickly without warning.

"Hahahaha," Eggman laughed, "Did you guys really think that if you'd send in Sonic and Knuckles, that they'll save your other two hooks?"

Yorker complained, "Not again!"

"Why yes again, this time, not only Espio's with us in the clan, soon the other three, unless we can discuss a deal?" Eggman inquired.

"And what is it that you demand?" Shadow asked.

"To receive all of your friends, give me the Chaos Emeralds, and you'll get them back in the way they left, otherwise…"

"Otherwise?" Conore questioned.

"Otherwise all of your friends will end up like Espio, deceiving and flesh eating, on my side, never to return to you again, if you do ever happen to fight for your dear lives."

"How long do we have to decide?" Aaron asked stiffly.

"Well, for the moment, five minutes. Unless you agree to the terms." Eggman acknowledged.

The group looked at one another, concerned at what to do, they all knew, if they kept the Chaos Emeralds, they'd die quickly, but if they handed them over, they'll die in the future, and not so instantly. They knew, that they'd prefer to have what's left and restore to the fullest quickly. Conore turned to the screen.

"It's a deal." Conore told him.

"Good, you have an hour to hand them over." The screen then went blank.

"Call Lighter, and tell him to send the Chaos Emeralds up." Conore told Aaron.

"Right." Aaron then went and did what was told.

"We really didn't have a choice did we?" Rouge asked.

"Not with four gone and little left weak, I couldn't risk it." Conore said.

_---------------_

Sonic and Knuckles were dragged in and thrown into the cell literally, then a few clothes were tossed at Misty. She quickly grabbed them, and stared at Damion. Damion glared back, and growled a little at her.

"How could you Damion?" Misty asked fiercely and quietly.

"It's all because of you Misty." Damion sneered, "Don't blame me for your own actions."

"Asshole."

"Bitch."

The door slammed shut, but the cell was left open, Sonic rubbed his head in pain, and Knuckles only lied on the ground. Misty quickly organized the clothing that she received, Espio's shoe, her headband, his glove, and her shirt.

"What in god's name is going on?" Knuckles asked the three.

"Like hell we don't know." Misty stated while getting her shirt on.

"I think Eggman's gone a little overboard with this one." Sonic validated.

They all nodded, Misty then found her necklace, and knew exactly what to do, and she grinned a little.

"I have my necklace, so." Misty insisted.

"So you can get us out of here." Knuckles asked.

"Not just that," Misty pointed, "The cell door, it's open."

Sonic got up and swung the door, a loud clang busted into the air, stunning him, and causing him to quickly run back into the cell and shut the cell shut. The three then glared at him, for two of those reasons.

"Well, it _was_ open." Misty sighed, "Ah well, I still can get us out."

"How's that?" Espio asked her.

"Simple." Misty then glowed for a moment, and took another shape, a hedgehog like dog from, all of her markings were shown, and the quills remained the same, and she quickly squeezed through the bars and went out the door. The boys sat, in shock, she actually went through the bars without stress.

"Well, lets hope she'll make it to the keys and all." Knuckles said.

"No kidding." Sonic agreed.

Espio nodded, "If anything, the last thing we need is an…" Espio's voice then screeched, at the sound, he covered his mouth, eyes open in shock.

"Oh crap." Sonic cried.

"If Misty doesn't hurry up, were meat for you Espy." Knuckles pointed.

Espio nodded, and kept his mouth covered, afraid to try and speak again. His back popped twice, he then knew, he was mutating again, but he hope slow enough for the guys to escape again.

_---------------_

"Yipe!" Misty cried out, she was in her fox form, with keys around her neck, and was panicking to the fullest. Behind her Damion, who also was in his fox form, was chasing her closely behind. Misty swerved every corner, sped up every straight hallway, and tried and tried to find the door she once came through, nothing appeared familiar. Damion snapped by her tail and missed, Misty quickly pulled her tail up a little, and at the same time, seen the door she was to be going through. She quickly back flipped, Damion running under her at full speed, and took a corner. Misty landed on her feet and quickly spun around and entered through the door, slamming it from behind, and locking it.

She stared at the door with exhaustion and took a few stepped backwards, panting heavily, and ignored everything around her, or at least for that moment.

"Misty! Get us out!" Sonic yelled behind her.

Misty jumped and spun around, ran towards the cell door and tried open it, and another screech broke into the air. She jumped again, and noticed Espio, crouched into a ball, lying on the floor, shaking. Sonic grabbed the keys, which still wrapped around Misty's neck, and started to figure out the keys. Misty fell over, and started to choke.

"Ack…can't…breathe! Hurry…up." Misty told him.

"Got it!" Sonic said, and dropped the keys, Misty then hastily started breathing again, but then the cell door came around and smacked her across the back, knocking her down. Sonic rushed out and waited for Knuckles and Misty, he shortly then became impatient.

"Come on now, we have to go!" Sonic said.

"Wait, Espio!" Knuckles cried out.

Misty turned to normal and removed the keys from around her neck and quickly shut the cell door before Knuckles could reach in. Knuckles quickly turned to her with anger trailing across his face.

"Open the damn door!" Knuckles demanded.

"Leave him." Misty said, "He can't escape the injection, he's that way for life now, leave him."

"No! I won't! Not again!" Knuckles cried as Misty tried to tug him out to the doorway.

"Knuckles…leave me." Espio told him harshly, "Listen to her, please."

"Espio, no!" Knuckles restrained.

Sonic came in and quickly helped Misty, "Knuckles, come on, we have to go!"

Knuckles began to cry, he couldn't leave him again. Espio gave out one last screech, and started to mutate again. Misty growled and by force, teleported herself and the boys out of sight. Nothing was left in Espio's sight, but only an open door.

_---------------_

"I still don't get why you have to do this Conore." Lighter pronounced while on screen, "But if anything, he'll take the Chaos Emeralds, and keep the four, he probably now knows how valuable Misty is."

"I know Lights." Conore said, "But it's the only choice we really had. Conore out." The screen then went blank. Then flickered to Eggman's face.

"All of what we have?" Conore asked him.

"Yes, all four." Eggman nodded, then turned his head to Damion, who rushed into the doorway. Before Conore even realized it, he heard the words "escaped from the cell, they're gone." He froze, and looked down, the Chaos Emeralds were gone; he had already sent them to Eggman.

"Well Conore, thank you very much." Eggman grinned, "But from what I've been told, they've…" Conore quickly turned off the screen, already knowing what happened.

"Hey, what was that for?" Rouge asked.

"They've escaped." Conore said to himself.

"Huh?" Aaron asked.

"She teleported, near Marie's." Conore's fox ears went up, and he quickly sat down. Yorker quickly stood behind him and looked over his shoulder in question, and so did everyone else.

"What's up Con?" Yorker asked him.

"They're at Marie's, get seated tight." Conore told the group, "We're going for a ride before he fires."

The ship then began to rumble, they were being shot at from Eggman's ship. Lasers shot out from everywhere, near the cockpit, under the left wing, edging the fin above, they're now in a trap.

"Hang on." Conore warned.

He pushed a boost lever, and the engine began to roar louder and louder. The ship quickly spun around, and aimed to the right, and shortly, it boosted out of sight, only a puff of smoke was left behind to show its disappearance.

_---------------_

"No! They're gone!" Eggman cried out.

"Don't worry, we do have the Chaos Emeralds." Ramaindna mentioned.

"And me, don't forget." Behind the four that spun around to see, was the same character that they've caught before. The same one who had suffered, and the same one that is now back in the clan, that one, was Espio, who laughed evilly, and also pulled out a Chaos Emerald into view. The group looked at one another, then began to laugh with him, they then soon roared with laughter, in greatness that the injection still lived in Espio's blood.

_This I believe didn't happen again, and Espio was left behind, all three of us knew he'd only kill, instead of holding us all hostage. Though I know for a fact the Ramaindna will say that he needs to stick with the available resources, and not to jump ahead…_


	13. Espio, Knuckles, and Shadow Alike

**Chapter 13: **

**Espio, Knuckles, and Shadow Alike**

They lied on the ground motionless, none even dared moved, this was an after effect after teleporting by force. Only the sound of what sounded like birds filled the air, and some howling of wild dogs rose with it, otherwise, the wind blew, and the sound of leaves in trees clattering around with the wind was all that made sound.

Footsteps started to rise into hearing range, and Knuckles was the first to notice the sound. He regained himself quickly and glanced around, the footsteps got louder, and he couldn't help himself, but to find out who was out there.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Knuckles hollered.

"Hello? Knux?" the voice replied, sounding like a familiar female.

He sat for a moment; pondering who it could be, he then decided to take a guess on the voice's sound, "Marie?"

Out of the bushes from the side, it was Marie, she stepped out and stood at his side, crossed armed.

"I thought I'd find you here." She laughed, "But what are you guys doing in the middle of the forest?"

"Um, I think Misty teleported us." Knuckles presumed.

"I did." Misty said as she started to sit up, "You left me with no choice Knuckles, even though I wasn't permitted to do so."

"Nice going Misty." Marie sighed, "Otherwise are you guys okay?"

"For the moment." Sonic woke up and rubbed his head, "Boy do I have a headache."

"Lets go anyhow." Marie insisted, "Conore called and said to have you three at my place until he comes."

"How does he know that we're here?" Knuckles asked.

"Lets just go." Sonic said impatiently.

"Right. Come on." Marie directed.

_---------------_

About fifteen minutes later, the Nightstar finally landed by Marie's, and everyone met u with one another. Tails finally was able to talk to the gang again, and seeing Misty's true form, he was stunned on how much she looked like Shadow, and again, she explained to him that she wasn't. But then the same argument rose about that one night once and again.

"I promise, I'll stay away from her, gesh!" Sonic cried.

"Oh really, like you don't take your eyes off of other girl hedgehogs." Amy screamed.

"Stop it! The both of you." Misty complained.

"You stay out of this." Sonic and Amy commanded her.

Marie shook her head, "Amy, honestly, do you really Sonic _would _go out with you?"

"Why ye-wait, what?" Amy stopped.

"The point is Amy, I like you as a friend," Sonic explained, "and same with the rest, but I mean hey, a guy's a guy."

"Especially if he himself tries and runs away from many that chases him." Misty said in random.

"Misty, go away!" Amy ordered, "Everyone, except for me and Sonic."

Misty shrugged, and lead the way out, followed by the rest, and out of all, Lakia, who showed up before Marie and the other three showed up at the house, was the only one to give the finger to Amy, foolishly, Amy put her hand on her head with a "L" shape formed with her right hand. And behind her, Sonic shook his head.

_---------------_

They sat in the living room, with Chao all over, they were kept busy, but then Conore started to talk business.

"Guys," Conore started, "Shouldn't we start to come up with a plan to fight back?"

"With Espy? I rather not for a while." Misty sighed.

"We could cause I have my Chaos Emerald." Knuckles said proudly.

"No you don't, Espy has it." Misty shook her head.

"Alright then if you-wha?" Knuckles was stunned that the Emerald was gone, Misty was right, the last time he had it, was before they got out of the cage.

"Well?" Misty asked him.

"You're right, they do have it." Knuckles said while lowering his head in irritation.

"Then that means they have all seven, doesn't it?" Tails asked.

Aaron sat for a moment by Kris, and both thought for a moment, eyes closed and hands supporting their heads, until Lakia shouted.

"Ahhh! They do!" Lakia cried.

"What's wrong?" Rouge asked her.

"Wouldn't that mean that they could make Espio stronger?" Charmy asked.

All of the group's jaws dropped widely, and all nearly fell over, except for Shadow and Marie, who both stood and watched the crowd nearly faint. Marie crossed her arms and looked at the crowd in shame, she hasn't seen Sonic and his friends in the worst situations for a long time after watching so much news.

"Well let us not just sit here. Let's get the bicker couple and get planning a plan!" Misty rushed.

Conore grabbed Misty's shirt and yanked her backwards onto the floor, "Hold on now missy, we're not doing anything until we know for sure, so, you, once and again are going back to the ship, and find out what's really going on."

"What! Are you freaking crazy?" Lakia cried out.

"Ditto here, what even gave you that thought?" Misty asked, lying on the floor.

"What if they plan something else, like a threat against the Night City council?" Conore asked her.

"Good point." Vector agreed.

"But is she going alone?" Mellony asked.

"Me and Shadow will." Knuckles volunteered.

"I know one thing, Sonic may now have that new form, but more than likely, he'll be a new target." Shadow insisted.

"True, then it's settled." Marie nodded, "You three then get moving."

"Now?" Misty said while shifting into her fox form.

"Now!" The crowd up-roared.

All three scattered out through the doors, and at the same time, Amy and Sonic stepped out. Marie looked at them with a funny smile. Sonic glanced around, and seen Knuckles, Shadow, and Misty were gone.

"Where's the three?" Sonic asked.

"Well, they're covering a assignment right now, while you guys were arguing, we decided to start without you." Marie laughed.

"Decide on what?" Amy asked.

_---------------_

"So the echidna and the male black hedgehog are our next targets?" Ramaindna asked.

"Correct, and I apologize for that idea I nearly went with." Eggman reminded.

"Oh shut up!" Quazaireon told him, "Anyways, so, did you say you had an idea?"

"I do." Espio said, "In fact, since we already know Ramaindna's way in permanent, we can do both at the same time."

"Hm, not bad, but how do we stable them?" Damion asked.

"Same as we did before," Eggman stated, "Only I presume Misty will be with them."

"True, here's a rumor I'd like to mention though." Ramaindna claimed, "Misty has or had an older brother by the name of Kido, and a younger sister by the name of Mura. Only though Misty or Kido have been rumored to be what is known as…"

"Hold it now!" Quazaireon interrupted, "Maybe we should wait for a bit until we know for sure to start explaining the Kiroshioneze culture."

"Alright then, if you insist." Ramaindna sighed.

"Well, at least we know she has a older brother and a younger sister." Espio repeated.

"And of course that were-fox cousin of hers that should be turned to mince meat." Damion complained.

"Don't worry, we have all the Emeralds." Eggman said, "So, should we use them when we get Knuckles and Shadow?"

"Best recommended, Knuckles for sure, but Shadow as we all know, is the ultimate life form, so he may have not much of a effect." Ramaindna affirmed.

"Right." Espio nodded.

"Hey guys!" Quazaireon called, "Looks like they came to us, look."

They all walked over by Quazaireon, and found he was right, on camera, Knuckles, Shadow, and Misty were entering the ship's hallways, they needed to act fast, since they all knew how strong those three were together.

_---------------_

"And once again, we enter in three." Misty sighed.

"No kidding, where should we go though?" Knuckles asked.

"The vents, lets travel through the vents." Shadow pointed.

A loud click echoed through the hallway, stunning the three a little, then Eggman's voice started to echo through.

"Hahahaha, did you three really think you all were going to get in here without being detected?" Eggman laughed.

"Damn cameras." Misty cried out.

"What are you wanting now?" Knuckles hollered.

"Your soul." A deep voice stated from behind.

All froze at their place; even Shadow had a shocked expression on his face. Knuckles' teeth started to grind a little, and Misty's legs started to shake, ready to run.

"Oh z-shitsy." Misty said without moving, "Now we're doomed."

"Just do what I do." Shadow said nervously, "And as of this second…"

Then a snake like creature bit Shadow's shoulder, then Knuckles' shoulder, then, Misty jumped high enough to dodge the first one, but when she landed, her right foot was bitten. They were then tugged backwards, and all fell on the ground being dragged. Misty was the only one to see upside down was pulled them, but with her vision mixed, she could make out what. The next thing they all knew was that they were all banged on the head, and blacked out.

_---------------_

"How are they doing?" Mellony asked.

"I don't know. I lost signal." Yorker replied.

"That ain't good right?" Sonic asked worriedly.

"Since when did you start wondering?" Rouge asked expectantly.

"Huh? A message?" Lakia pointed out.

"Probably Eggman." Kris mentioned.

"If not Lighter from Night City." Marie persisted.

Yorker clicked on the message icon, and a cam of Eggman's face appeared. They all sighed in aggravation, not knowing what will happen next.

"So you tried again huh?" Eggman sneered.

"Oh let us guess what you're going to say next." Marie rolled her eyes.

"Hahahaha, well you can say goodbye to them again, thank you very much though Conore for handing over the Emeralds."

"Shut up." Conore growled.

"And as usual, you only act negative, what a shame, well, expect more to suffer, and more to join us on the Dark, and despise anyone beside their own team, team Eggman in other words."

Sonic started to snarled a little, "Don't you even touch Misty you…"

"You what? If anything, they're one step closer to the Dark." The screen then went blank. And they all were left in questioning.

_---------------_

"Espio, go and make sure that they are put in separate cells." Eggman commanded him.

Espio nodded, and went off, doors shutting behind him. Quazaireon paced back and fourth behind Ramaindna, who stood by a chemistry table, fixing the same injection used before. Soon, Quazaireon became impatient and started mumbling to himself. Ramaindna turned to him and smiled a little.

"You really want this to work don't you?" Ramaindna smiled.

"I just want to get this over with, so then we have something against the Light." Quazaireon told her, "Besides, this maybe our only chance to make a critical hit in the heart, and not actually trying to make the smallest of hits."

"I know, Doctor." Ramaindna called.

"What is it?" Eggman asked unpleasantly.

"I believe it's finished now." She then handed three doses to Eggman; all filled to the fullest, and were fully secure in fiberglass covering. Eggman swiftly grabbed them all, and glanced at them in the light provided, and rubbed the glass slowly on the sides.

"Hehe, time to add more members to the team." Eggman snickered.

Eggman then quickly exited the room, and Ramaindna, Quazaireon, and Damion, all quickly ran over to the computer, and flicked on the cameras, watching the three prisoner's every move.

_---------------_

Mellony collapsed onto the bench next to Yorkers command seat; frustrated on how quickly they were caught, and the fact that Espio's now back on Eggman's side was even more irritating to her. Tails sat confused, just looking at Mellony made his mind spin rapidly, or maybe it was an after effect after the boost. Lakia stood by Conore, who's head was down, and his eyes closed, still not understanding what he is doing wrong.

"Conore?" Lakia poked him, "Relax, I'm sure they'll make it out."

"I know, I just don't get what we're doing wrong." Conore said raising his head a little.

"Relax?" Sonic stomped, "Why relax, when we could send more of us to save them, we've lost Espio, and now Eggman is about to kill three bird with one stone. Why relax?"

"I wasn't asking you, you retard!" Lakia growled.

"Knock it off!" Mellony screamed.

Silence then came about, and everyone looked at Mellony, her silver eyes going black in fury. Mellony stood, "They must have something there that we don't have that's causing all this and…ooooh! Oh get out of the way." Mellony shoved Conore out of the way, and started to look through the recorded videos, she looked through the first, nothing, the second, nothing, the third, still nothing, and the last; she glanced around, and waited. She then caught Espio walking in the background, and instantly spotted an amulet around his neck; she smacked down the pause button, and slapped her finger to the amulet.

"That! That there Conore, What kind of a amulet is that?" Mellony asked.

"I have no idea." Conore scratched his head.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Aaron asked her.

"Well for one, it looks very beautiful with all of the jewels on it." Rouge pointed out.

"That amulet may have something to do with the rapid catch, or if not, the whole conflict at this moment." Mellony explained.

"So what do we do about it?" Amy asked.

"How about we wait and find out later." Kris suggested, "And at the same time, get out of range before Eggman sees us."

Yorker looked down at the radar, they were about to enter a force field that Eggman's ship holds around it, "Hold on a moment, we'll orbit Eggman's force field, and when we find more information about the three, we'll move in."

_---------------_

"Let go of me damn it!" Misty cried as she snapped at Eggman.

"For a chick, you sure have a defensive mind." Eggman pointed out.

Misty growled at him, "Don't you even think about calling me that again, or once you put even a finger in this cell…"

"I'll hold you down, how's that." Quazaireon said behind her.

Misty spun around and was tackled down to the ground. She viciously snapped, snarled, and clawed at Quazaireon's face. She started to hear Knuckles cheer for her, hearing "kick his ass" many times, and her rage grew greater as her and Quazaireon struggled. She was then able to bite Quazaireon's leg, and made him loose balance before Eggman grabbed her neck. She swung Quazaireon's leg around, and released him, causing him to fly into the bars behind him. Misty then quickly turned back to her hedgehog form, and gasped for air, she also glared at Quazaireon fiercely.

"Just stay the hell away, and don't call me any names." Misty warned.

"In that case, we'll go ahead and start with Shadow." Eggman insisted, "Unless you can tell me of what you really are."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Misty sneered.

She sat for that moment, then her neck started to close on her, like she was being choked. She felt for her neck, and ended grabbing what felt like a wrist. She tried to speak, but the grasp was too tight. She closed her eyes for a split second, and the next thing that appeared in her sight was Espio, right in front of her, strangling her. She could hear Eggman laughing out loud. Knuckles started to become more furious, and started to holler in disarray, and tried with all of his might to try and bend the bars to save her.

"Let her go!" Knuckles howled, "Just take me first damn it!"

Espio released her, and she gasped for air desperately, grasping her own neck in pain. Espio turned to Eggman, and gave a small nod to him, Eggman replied with the same kind of nod, and quickly Espio slipped through the bars, and pinned Knuckles down on his back, one knee holding him, both hands holding his arms, and his tail began to straighten, Shadow, who finally started to awaken, glanced at Knuckles, and seen his position, he knew that he wasn't going to make it, and he went to rest once and again.

Eggman stepped into Knuckles' cellar, and kneeled beside Knuckles, and a sound of a choke came into the air. Misty tried to ignore it, and tried to keep herself from looking. Her mind then started to turn black, and a flash of an amulet came to her mind, she quickly reopened her eyes, and seen Espio stand and turn, and around his neck, an amulet hung on a chain, it was the same amulet that she seen in her mind. She quickly shifted to her fox form, and behind Espio's back, she tried to squeeze through the bars. Espio heard her breathing, and spun around, his eyes demented and only pure white, snarled at her, claws quickly formed, and his tail more whip like. Misty shrieked, and ran into a corner of her cell, crouched into a little wet fur ball, scared by Espio's appearance.

"Awe, the poor little puppy is scared of a bull dog." Eggman snickered.

"That's it!" Misty barked.

Misty quickly bolted at Eggman and snapped at his stomach, and was able to get a hold of his lab coat, and tried with all of her might to tear it apart. Eggman struggled against her, and tried stabbing her with the injection, but she also moved to where he couldn't, since bars separate both of them.

"Espio!" Eggman called to him.

Espio snarled, and Misty froze and stared at him, then another snarl came, but as she was watching him, he didn't even move. A snap sound was made by her ears, and with great fright, she released Eggman and backed away quickly. Eggman stumbled a little, and turned around, finding a most fascinating thing in front of him. Misty, who stood behind the bars, stared at Eggman's back, wondering why she started to hear all of a sudden laughter. Her mind was blank, and then came a memory, which then triggered her first thought why.

"Oh crap." Misty whined a little.

Eggman turned to his side, and then glanced at Misty, "Meet our newest member Misty, and say good-bye to your precious red head." Right at the end of speaking, he slipped away, and more snake like creatures, came at her. Misty shrieked, and started to dodge them once and again. One nearly hit her by her foot, another by the tail, two under her stomach, and one below her neck, and the last by her head. Misty was attached to a wall, while the snake creatures in those positions were clinching the walls with their jaws. Misty panted and looked at the two under her stomach, then followed their stretched bodies to find a large crimson red creature glaring at her. Misty knew exactly who it was, and fainted, and left her body dangling on top of the stretching snakes.

_---------------_

"Guys, I found out about the amulet around his neck." Marie said while walking through the side door leading outside.

"How did you get here?" Sonic asked her.

"I had a bit of assistance with me." Marie told him, "Anyhow, come over here people."

The group walked over by Marie, discovering that she sat down a book called 'Ancient Records of Amulets'; she then also spread out some other papers that had different titles, but yet related to the book title. She opened the book and searched through, then came across a specific amulet, and slapped it open, above the amulet it was titled, 'Amulet of Deciding Power.

"Is this what you were talking about?" Marie asked.

"Y-yes." Conore nodded, "But where in this world did you get this book?"

"Misty dropped it off before you guys left." Marie commented, "She said Eggman had it in his possession, but yet was unsure why. And she also found this too." Marie then handed Conore a piece of paper, that shown the same amulet, but in a darker shade. Conore raised an eyebrow at Marie.

"This book shows the Light side of the amulet, while that you're holding is a ancient artifact showing the Dark side of it." Marie stated.

"So what's so important about it?" Amy asked.

"It says that this amulet, depending on the holder, can give almost unlimited strength to the holder, although it is yet to believe that it also sometimes as a mind controlling amulet, but I don't see why still."

"Maybe Eggman's planning to use it for Espio by the sound of it." Rouge stated, "Cause if it gives almost unlimited strength, if you add that with the Seven Chaos Emeralds they have."

"Then it equals a more powerful mutant." Sonic answered.

"Yes, but not Espio alone." Marie stated, "It's legend that if you add the Chaos Emeralds with it, the holder can ended up having too much power, and the amulet with be destroyed because of how much energy is in it and the holder. So, in order to be safe, you'd need at least two others to equal out the amount of energy that runs through."

Lakia snapped her fingers, "And that's probably why the three are with Eggman, they need them to equal out the energy so they can create the strong and powerful."

"Exactly." Marie nodded.

"So, really we need to get our hands on the amulet itself." Aaron simplified.

"Partly, at least before they use it, otherwise, we'd just waste time."

"That sucks man." Kris sighed, "What's the other part?"

"The other part is the Master Emerald." Marie stated, "Doesn't Misty have it?"

"I hope not." Conore panicked, "That'd be the last thing I want taken next."

"No kidding." Sonic nodded, "Knowing how strong Espio already is."

"And that reminds me." Marie said, "Since Sonic _does_ have a mutant form in free will, if we can grab the Master Emerald and the amulet, Sonic, Misty and maybe even Conore can split the energy, and fight against whoever in hell's on Eggman's side."

"So really, our goal is to get the amulet, and Misty at that, get the Master Emerald, then we'll be able to fight back and win." Amy said in excitement.

"Note this though." Marie started again, "As we all know, the Master Emerald holds the power of Chaos, _and, _if they happen to get the Master Emerald, but yet lose the amulet, they can still use Chaos for extra energy in replacement of the amulet. And has anyone ever thought how Sonic managed to escape out of Perfect Chaos' body during his attacks?"

"No, why?" Rouge asked her.

"Espio, of all people, if he has the Master Emerald in his possession, he can summon Chaos, and use Chaos as like a secondary layer and…"

"Espio could control Chaos if he wanted to." Sonic interrupted.

"Using Chaos? Isn't it though uncontrollable?" Rouge asked.

"Not totally, if you have the Master Emerald itself, you have Chaos' mind also." Marie stood up and crossed her arms.

"In other words." Lakia wondered.

"For example, he summons Chaos, and uses the Seven Emeralds to make him perfect, but then yet also puts himself in the very center of Chaos, basically then whatever his actions are, Chaos does."

Sonic stood with wide-open eyes, "That's bad isn't it."

"Bad enough," Marie agreed, "But then add Knuckles and Shadow by his side."

The group sighed in irritation, now that they were told that, they've got a serious problem.

_---------------_

_Misty, wake up. Quickly now, there's no time! Wake up! Wake up, you need to go and help our friends. Hurry! Wake up!_

Her eyes flashed open, "Espio?" She quickly sat up, and realized she was just dreaming, and she was in her hedgehog form once again. Her neck ached, and stung painfully, she was injected again, but she concentrated on where the other two went, knowing that they're not around anywhere in any cell surrounding her. She sat for a moment, and glanced around, and then quickly spotted a camera behind her head, which to her must view her cell.

"If anything, you're not seeing me mutate." Misty growled, she spotted a small rock, picked it up, and chucked it at the camera, shattering it into many pieces.

_---------------_

"Dr. Eggman!" Ramaindna called, "The camera was destroyed."

"What?" Eggman spun around.

"She chucked a pebble at the camera, then nothing" Damion pointed out.

"Leave her be." Eggman said.

"But Eggman." Quazaireon started to state.

"I said leave her be." Eggman demanded, "Maybe she'll be a surprise to us all."

_---------------_

Misty stood for a moment, looking at the shattered camera with a cold and angered face, her fists gripped tight, and her eyes flashed to nearly a light blood red. She slowly closed her eyes, her mind drifting to darkness.

Crack! Misty's back snapped on her, and she collapsed to the ground, her body becoming more stressed, and her muscles tensed up every second that passed, she felt her mind drift, and her body acting like it has just ripped through her clothing. Her breath increased in speed, her back popped two more times, and she tried her hardest to crouch into fetal position tightly, but her stomach muscles fought back, and she couldn't bare it. She started to gasp for air, feeling her neck swelling up quickly, and closing her only way for breathing. Her sight started to darken, and her resistance lowered, the air escaping from her body. She screamed in pain, the force of her muscles tensing, she couldn't bare it any longer.

Another sudden crack occurred in her back, and her muscles instantly loosened, and her neck went to normal, her soul jumping back into her body. Air came back to her, and her eyes regained sight, she gasped for air, and stopped screaming in pain. She then started to gear voices, voices that sounded like they were talking about the future.

_She's fine, leave her be, she needs to concentrate on escape…But what about the amulet…I know she'll get it, it'll save their lives…Should we interfere, since the war will soon begin…No, save your energy when they restore all three…But Chaos, it'll be controlled by him! We cannot afford our only hope to join the Dark so soon…I know, but trust me, she'll make it, and so will the rest…_

She lied on the ground panting, glad that the pain ceased. A thought rolled into her head, if she was injected two times already, wouldn't she have become one of Eggman's working mutants already? She quickly sat up, and looked at herself, her hands were normal, and her herself was normal. She quickly shifted into her fox form, and ran around in circles in happiness.

"Oh my god I'm normal!" Misty cheered, "Wee! I'm normal, I'm normal!"

_---------------_

"What's that sound?" Eggman asked.

"Sounds like a female in the cellar." Quazaireon presumed.

"Not just that, it's Misty herself." Espio pointed out, "Listen."

They turned up the volume, and listened carefully, as Misty's voice was on the intercom, "Hooray! I'm not a mutant! Wee! The injection failed! Hooray!"

All stood in shock, Misty, out of the four caught, she was the only one that adapted the injection to where it didn't affect her, but how and why? They sat and pondered, hearing Misty's voice cheer in the intercom how could this be? Espio quickly turned and bolted out of the door, which then shut behind him.

"Now what's on his mind?" Quazaireon sighed.

"He's probably going to find out how Misty could dodge the injection." Eggman said.

_---------------_

Misty stopped, and glanced around, "Now to get out of here, but how?" She walked around and looked at her surroundings, only cells and cold floors, she had no choice but to try and squeeze through the bars, knowing what good it could do her. She slipped one leg out, then tried to pull her head out, but never worked. She tried again; she tried going tail first, worked until it got to her shoulders. She then tried one more time, and this time, she lied down flat, stretched herself out, and tried getting out while lying on the ground dragging herself with only the front of her paws. She made it through past the shoulders, she quickly stood back up, she took one step, and she heard the door bust open. She panicked, and lied on her side, and pulled herself back in quickly, then backed up to the wall, then crouched into a corner, waiting for whatever would pop up would come to view. Clicking noise began to come into her ears, and they got closer every second that was spared, she lifted her head a little, and kept her eyes on one side of her cell, then the clicking stopped. She pondered a little, but kept still, nothing came to view. She sat up, and then shifted to her hedgehog form, she figured she was hearing things.

A small growl was made, and she glanced back at the same spot that she stared at, then greatly looked to the other side, there stood Shadow, his eyes glared at her, and his arms were crossed, this wasn't good for her in her mind. He hissed at her, that then triggered the last image before she fainted, she then felt like this was her last stand, and wasn't prepared to die. A rapid grip occurred at the neck, and she screamed in fright, she glanced in front, and seen Espio kneeling in front of her, and glared at her too, she then knew what this was all about.

He started to choke her, "How did you avoid mutating?"

"I have no idea, honestly." Misty cried, "Of all things, this is the only one I don't know how I got past by."

"Then why did you even destroy the camera?" Espio shook her a little with grief.

"Cause just in case I actually did, I want no one to see." Misty growled, "And what gives you the right to handle me in such way?"

"Since now you're in our possession." Espio smirked.

Misty's eyes widened, "Our possession?"

Espio's smirk then turned into an evil smile, "More like mine anyhow."

Claws started to form, and pierced through Misty's fur covered skin, her breath started to get blocked, and she choked. Espio's grip got tighter, and his other hand was placed on her left arm, which was then also pierced. Misty couldn't help but to silently cry, the pain started to get worse, along with the phrase "our possession" roll through her mind. Her legs then were grabbed on to, this was Shadow's doing, and she cried out in pain, feeling Shadow's claws dig through her skin, touching the bones, and scraping them. Knuckles then appeared and bit into her right side, feeling the bite of what felt like a pit bull's grip with the teeth, and he started to jerk, still holding her side, the pain grew worse. She had a thought, if she were to shift into her fox form, would she still have a chance? Pain struck her again, Espio's claws removed from her neck, and gripped her right hand, and he bit her at the same spot the claws were once at, blood drained out quickly, she had no choice.

She reared up her legs, Shadow's claws crapping her bone underneath the flesh, and kicked his face, she elbowed Knuckles muzzle, causing a small chunk of her side to be torn, and Knuckles rolled backwards hitting his head on the wall next to her. She then kneed Espio's stomach, his grip releasing her arms, and his mouth drawn away from her neck, screeching in pain right by Misty's ears. Her Sapphire Emerald glowed and she shifted into her fox form, quickly snatched the amulet from Espio's chest, and quickly squeezed through between the bars before Shadow snapped at her rear paws. Though shifted to a fox, she was forced to shift back to normal, with every wound made by the three, she needed to heal herself, and fast, but also at the same time, escape.

The door was open, and she ran away from the three what were now so called mutants, Espio, Shadow, and Knuckles alike, all had one extreme related quality, they're more stronger than ever, thanks to the taste of blood from a legend.

_The pain was strong, and the hearts of the two were now gone, for yet I knew that the amulet was of great importance, and I am still happy for taking that particular book to Marie's. But what concerned me, is what will Eggman do next?_

_Once I was out of their sight, there was really only one way to go, up. There was a doorway up, but that didn't lead me much, in fact, it only led me to a place that I call, the room of the secret plan…_


	14. Secret Files and Hikarari Thorestare

**Chapter 14: **

**Secret Files and Hikarari Thorestare**

A bleeping noise stirred the air, and Yorker spun around to find that they were in service of Eggman's radio call, Sonic glanced over, and seen the password box being filled, and so did the others, and they covered everything up, and walked over by Yorker. A picture of Eggman's face then appeared, once and again, he laughed evilly.

"Muahahahaha!" He laughed, "So I see none of your members have showed up now."

"We know what your up to." Marie growled, "Don't even think about trying to use those Emeralds."

"Haha, you think I'm planning on making my team stronger huh." Eggman stated, "Well, I'd suggest you all try a race, to Angel Island that is."

"The Master Emerald!" The group shouted.

"So, let's race." Eggman said, then the screen went blank.

"Not unless I can help it." Conore growled and took the seat to the left of Yorker, "Strap in guys."

"Another blast of a boost?" Rouge sighed, "I hope this doesn't get worse."

"Let's hope we'll beat them." Amy prayed.

"Let's hope the three are alright." Sonic said.

Marie sat in front of Sonic, quickly strapping herself in, and then put her hands on Sonic's shoulder, "Misty may be quick by thought, but it's not unusual for her to be caught multiple times and come out wounded like never before. She's had other people make it out before her, and visa versa, but during those times, the others she brought were nearly killed, or other things. So I'll guarantee you, it's either Knuckles, Shadow, or Misty for once that won't make it out alive."

Sonic nodded towards her, and then put his head down, Marie to him was right, this was going to be a challenge where if two go, one lives to tell the tale. His gold eyes dulled down, stared at the floor, only misery came to him. Marie's hand then grabbed both of his hands, and set something inside his hand. He glanced up at Marie, then his hands, what was given to him, was a sapphire ring, engulfed with other sapphires around it, and the ring itself was made of pure gold, but not the ordinary everyday gold they'd usually see. Sonic then glanced back up at Marie.

"A ring?" Sonic asked her.

"That's not a ordinary ring my blue friend." Marie told him, "Those sapphires aren't the actual sapphires of today, and same with the gold, this is a special ring made from the ancient Kiroshioneze tribes, this will help you out later on, trust me."

Sonic nodded, and held the ring, he figured to not put it on yet, and decided to wait, he slipped it inside his glove deeply, and made sure it stayed.

-------------

"Now this is interesting." Misty said as she lifted herself up painfully.

The room was large, and almost blank, except with two large computers, and many chemicals boiling, mixed, and stored. A file cabinet stood by one computer, and a desk with a lamp, files, and a few pictures lied on it. Misty quickly shut the door below her that she got through, and limped over to the desk painfully, and sat on the black chair that sat beside it. She took her necklace and healed herself, but not enough to fully recover; only about half of her body was healed. What still was left was that every cut and gash still partly open, but not much pain occurred, and she was more cleaned up, so she looked nearly fine.

She glanced at the papers and pictures, and started to search through them, most of the files were chemical equations, and small notes for each, until a few papers came to her view and were entitled: "The Summon of Chaos." These pages told Misty one thing, the actual plan for the Eggman Empire and the mutants themselves. She read the first file out loud, but good enough for no one around to hear.

She read: "For yet the legend of Chaos was reborn not long ago, but Sonic had yet defeated it, and Chaos returned, and yet, I was left with curiosity, wondering if there would be anyway to summon Chaos again. Though Quazaireon may have been of help, he though had never told me that only the Dark could access Chaos once every month, but yet found of no use of Chaos, or at least until when he and the Dark had discovered Sonic at the time.

"But the problem was to how to summon Chaos. The legend says that though the tribe of the Echidnas were the first to summon him, but the creator of the Master Emerald and Chaos was actually a old Kiroshioneze chameleon, who kept the culture a secret, when the Master Emerald was distributed to the tribe, it was legend his sons had created a new form of Chaos, and destroyed the old and faithful one. The old one ended up dead because of this effect, and was yet to believe that the new Chaos took revenge of the killing of the actual creator of the Master Emerald. Chaos turned against the old one's sons, and cursed them both to the Dark, but then yet was turned to a whole different Chaos, one who protected the Echidna tribe, and was the guardian of Chao.

"Tikal, a young female echidna, had a strange connection with Chaos, even though it was forbidden for the Light to summon Chaos, she had the will to control his heart by only a little, for yet Chaos grew too strong, and lived in the Master Emerald secured by Tikal's words. I had yet to believe that a chameleon had created the Master Emerald itself. This was a start of a mystery."

Misty grabbed another page, and started to read it: "I was doing some research on Espio's blood line, and he's legend to be one of the great grandsons of this old one, and yet the blood of the old one lies within him, this was a major break through, and was a start to creating the Eggman Empire that I was promised. Espio, to me, I thought before was just one that hated me, and was a member of Chaotix Detective Agency, but I was wrong, he was something worthwhile. So that would be one reason why he was the first one to be the first one picked.

"I looked even further into his blood lines and database, and found his father was killed by a bomb fire made at a reunion about thirteen years ago, this bomb fire was concluded as a murder crime, for only very few survivors lives, and Espio's uncle was one of them, though he is now unknown to be living at this moment. Though Espio had a sister, she was killed because of an unstable mind, which was then soon resolved. I though looked at his father and the father's brother; both were survivors of a war many centuries ago, the war of the Demon Phoenix, which was legend to be the universe threat.

"Espio's father was very unique, for he also was a ninja, but also a samurai, along with that, a martial artist, though his mind and mouth were silent, his spirit wasn't, when Espio was born, his heart would always what they say, beat for his son's soul. The bomb fire was the only time when Espio's father actually got to save him at the age of three. But I didn't know was that the father's brother consists of a curse he'd receive many years before, and Espio's mother, who also fought with the two males, was murdered before his father was. I honestly believe that Espio had a hard lifestyle from what I researched, all I know is that Team Chaotix has a lucky chameleon that will help us with the summon of Chaos."

"So, Eggman knows who Espio is now." Misty said to herself, "This may make things a bit harder."

A thrashing noise was then near the entrance she took, wings flapped, snarling noises echoed, and claws scraping with the metal. She took no chance, knowing what all three have done to her already, she quickly took the files with her, stored them into her necklace instantly, and glanced at a door by the second computer that stood, and quickly made haste to the door. A loud bang shot behind her, and scared her to her wits, for yet she struggled to open the door, knowing whatever was behind her now was extremely close.

She figured out the code, "Yes! I have it!" But her hopes instantly dropped when the a hand struck right in front of her face, deleting to code, and keeping the door closed. She lost her breath, and didn't say a word, but slammed her head on the wall beside the hand, and started to get even more frustrated and worried for her own body.

"You're not going anywhere until we're finished with you." The sound of Knuckles said behind her.

"Crap. Not this again." Misty complained.

Her arms were then gripped and pressed behind her back harshly, her front smothered with the wall, and she tried with all of her might to fight back, it did her no good. A striking pain hit the neck once and again, a hand was paced on her shoulder, while only one hand held her hands from behind, or at least that what it felt like to her. She cried out, her blood draining from her body, and slowly moving downwards on her chest and back. The shoulder was then pierced with claws, and more blood gushed out violently. The pain in the neck lightened a little, and a feel of a cold breath fell on her cheek, they're starting to devour her, and Espio was getting a head start again.

He spoke deep and light by her face, "You're not getting out of here alive, you're staying with us for some usage." The hand on her shoulder then moved slowly down to her thighs, Misty tensed up in annoyance, and growled a little, feeling his cheek touch hers lightly, his voice then whispered quietly, "If anything, you're mine and mine only, and the other two will help me with that." Espio hissed a little, and bit her cheek briskly, and Misty screamed almost on the top of her voice, she felt her body weaken quickly again, and more pain struck her on the other side of the neck, then her lower back, she figured it was Shadow on her neck, and Knuckles on her lower back, which started to feel like her back was about to break. Misty felt her cheek being sucked on, Espio, still fused onto her, kept draining her blood from her cheek, and then started to breathe heavily, the temperature in the room to them was rising, she flinched a little, and knew she needed to go through some serious pain to get out of this one, and fast.

She thought, try talking her way out? Get Shadow and Knuckles out of sight, and try to make an escape from there? She was willing to try, but she had to make it quick before curiosity comes to the two anyhow. She jerked her head away from Espio's mouth, and smacked her head on Shadow's, then moving her back at an angle to where Knuckles scraped her backside snappily, she grinded her teeth, and kept her head down, then spoke weakly.

"I give in, I'll be yours." She cried a little, "Just tell the other two to go, and then you can do whatever you want with me."

Espio grinned, and turned to Shadow and Knuckles, "Leave us." He then entered the code in, and the door opened. Shadow and Knuckles walked out calmly, blood dripping from their mouths in delight. The door the shut and Espio forcefully spun Misty around.

Misty spoke again, "I don't know anything about what is going on, and so just…do whatever you want to me then let me go."

Espio laughed a little, blood drooling from his mouth after feeding on her cheek, "You really do think you're getting out the easy way aren't you." Espio then gripped Misty's arms, and kept his hands firmly on her, "Not until I'm fully satisfied with my delight from you." Espio then started to drain her more, and also at the same time, had the thought of rape roll through his head.

-------------

"So, what are we going to do?" Sonic asked, "I know one thing, we're not going to leave Misty in that ship!"

"We all know that, and there's someone I know that can help." Marie mentioned.

"Who exactly?" Rouge crossed her arms.

"She's my sister by the name of Hikarari Thorestare." Marie explained, 'She's really good with surprise attacks and knows a lot about what is related to this kind of a problem, though she lives on a island far from here, but I can call her up and thankfully, she can teleport herself to my place, and help us all."

"Not until we get Misty and go." Sonic said.

"So far we can't even get a signal from her yet." Yorker mentioned, "So really, we can't do anything but to either wait for her, or turn around and head back to Marie's."

"Unless you yourself want to go after her." Amy mentioned with a rough tone of voice.

Sonic then went silent; knowing how Amy is now that he was now a bit irresponsible. Lakia shook her head in shame, knowing that this was going to be more difficult, and then an idea came to her head.

"Maybe if we can get Hikarari over to Marie's quick enough, we may have extra time to kill two birds with one stone!" Lakia said.

"What do you mean?" Kris asked, "And where's Aaron?"

Conore pointed to the back of the ship, and Kris nodded after seeing Aaron searching through the stuff in the particular room. Lakia then tried to explain again.

"If we hurry and contact Hikarari, we can get Misty, and get the Master Emerald at the same time, and meet at Night City before they even realize that we did two things at once."

"But, who'd go to get Misty?" Amy asked.

"That'll be answered after we get Hikarari, lets go Yorks." Conore told him.

"No! Wait!" Sonic cried out.

It was too late before he could make any more movements, the ship was already turning around, and boosted out of Eggman's ship's sight, leaving only a small puff of smog in the air.

-------------

"What is taking him so long, damn it!" Damion complained, "He's been gone long enough, and so has Knuckles and Shadow."

"I'm trying to find them as quick as I can." Eggman said, "so far, no one's around."

"Actually, me and Quazaireon would be more than happy to go and find them." Ramaindna gestured, "Though I won't guarantee you that'll be less than five minutes before we return."

"Will do, go and find them," Eggman said, "I can imagine what that injection could be doing to their minds right now."

Both Quazaireon and Ramaindna nodded and quickly ran out of the doors, and Damion and Eggman sat and waited for a reply from anything that was willing to come.

-------------

"I still don't get it," Quazaireon said, "Why would Misty still be around when we never knew about it."

"She probably doesn't know I'm here either." Ramaindna said, "She probably doesn't even know who I am anyhow, so why does it matter?"

"Eggman wasn't quite stunned after seeing what Misty could do with shape shifting. But I don't think he realizes that he's got something really valuable, don't you think?"

"I agree Quazaireon," Ramaindna nodded, "Especially if you combine all the Emeralds together with her near by, she's basically the most useful, and powerful on our team, if we ever do get her on our side."

"Otherwise we've got something dangerous that'll slow us down by a bunch, the war will be slowed down and be ruled by the Light."

"Unless…" Ramaindna paused.

"What?" Quazaireon paused with her.

"Unless instead of chasing after Sonic, we go after Misty while we have her."

"But we only got those other three with us, not much could be put against her and she can destroy them instantly." Quazaireon mentioned.

"Not unless we get the Emeralds while we still have her." Ramaindna smiled.

A crash noise broke into the hallways, echoing nonstop, and continuing down behind the two that heard. They both froze for a moment, and then Quazaireon pounced in front of Ramaindna.

"That must be them, lets go!" Quazaireon said.

Both bolted towards the sound, knowing what to expect. But what they didn't expect, was Misty passed by fast enough where Espio followed close behind, and rammed into Ramaindna and Quazaireon in his mutant form, all three tumbled and turned for a moment, then lied on the ground in ache. Quazaireon stood up quickly untouched, and glared at Espio, who quickly shifted to normal.

"What's the fucking idea of ramming us?" Quazaireon shouted in anger.

"No time to complain, she's getting away.' Espio snarled.

"You two shut up, I'll take care of her." Ramaindna growled, and quickly disappeared from their sights.

-------------

Misty ran with all of her might, knowing what lied behind her, and slowly started to heal herself the best she could. To her, there was no time to stop, no time to rest, no time to look back, and no time to eve think about her wounds aching her still. She looked back only once, nothing was behind her, but she kept running as fast as her legs could carry her, until Ramaindna appeared in front of her. Misty was fast enough to turn her head and to spot her instantly. She stopped, and stared at her appearance. She was dark, dull looking, and had the same familiar scar on her left eye, to Misty; she was someone she knew, but who?

"I see you've escaped once, and is planning on escaping again." She smiled at Misty.

"Get out of my way!" Misty squalled at her, "I have no time to fight now, so go away!"

"Not until you return the amulet." She still stood, "I will tell you one thing and only one thing, the more you run, the more enemies appear, and trust me, it's about time you handed that over to us again, then we'll release you."

Misty thought for a moment, and nodded, she waved her hand in the air, and an amulet appeared into sight, she grabbed it, and tossed it at Ramaindna. Ramaindna took it and stared at it for a moment, then disappeared. Misty knew she was letting her go, and she smiled, and then took off running, still smiling.

Rapid snarling and clanging of metal was being made behind her, and Misty quickly picked up speed. She turned two corners, one left, and another right, and then came to a dead end, with a door ahead of her. She dared herself, and opened it, and she instantly felt a huge breeze nearly take her out of the doorway. She looked out of it to see, and it was her way out, it led straight behind a wing of the mother ship, she shifted to her fox form, and looked behind her. Only a second later, three creatures came after her, all looked a bit similar, but one thing she knew, it was Shadow, Espio and Knuckles, in that order from left to right. She smiled, then jumped out of the doorway, the ship flying over her head hastily with great intensity of power. She quickly formed wings, and dove down by other side ships that followed the mother ship, then through a layer of clouds, she then quickly seen the blueness of water, and quickly spread her wings and flew just inches above the water.

She glanced up and seen the ship was out of sight, so she figured that they couldn't see her either, and so she spotted land just to her left, and quickly started for the land.

-------------

"You have the amulet, but not Misty?" Eggman questioned her.

"I know what happened, so I gave her a chance." Ramaindna said.

Quazaireon looked over at Eggman's hand to see the amulet, and noticed that it wasn't the same one they owned before, "Um, I think she just gave you a get out of jail free ticket instead of actually giving you the amulet."

"What?" Eggman glanced at it.

"Watch this." Quazaireon said as he swiped the amulet from his hand, slammed it on the ground, and with the broken grate he used before, he took it, and smashed the amulet with it, it was fake, it was a plastic model of a different amulet. Quazaireon then glanced over at Ramaindna and gave her a fierce glare at her.

"So exactly how could you mistake this to a real amulet?" Quazaireon asked her.

Ramaindna grinned, and snapped her fingers, and soon the Master Emerald came into sight, "Because before I came across Misty, I made a very quick trip to Angel Island. Besides, now we have everything we need."

"How's that possible?" Damion asked.

"Because, the amulet prepares the holder for the usage of this extreme power," Ramaindna explained, "What was researched was on something else, but after only a day, the holder can then use it to harness Chaos, and use it for the massive destruction Eggman needs."

Quazaireon stared for a moment, then looked at Eggman's expression, he was grinning wide and proud, now knowing that their plan was about going according to plan.

-------------

The group sat in Marie's living room with the Chao that roamed around, Vector and Charmy were there, both sat in worry, still wondering if Espio will ever get restored, already knowing how he is now. Rouge and Amy sat side by sat chatting a little about ideas of the future, though yet they're mostly guesses instead of true facts. Lakia and Conore both leaned against one another, thinking of Misty, but not enough to cry for her. Kris and Aaron sat with the Chao and played with them for a moment, and Sonic and Tails both sat side by side, Sonic keeping his head low, his gold eyes not even taking sight of the surroundings, too worried about Misty. What has he gotten himself into now?

Tails looked over, his innocent blue eyes reflecting against Sonic's blue pelt dimly, for yet Sonic didn't notice Tails, so he kept still. Tails then leaned over near Sonic's head and looked at him again, his fist clenched a little, he felt his own heart sink further deep, and stared at Sonic's gold eyes that continue to stare at the ground. Tails then felt hurt, not knowing why, but then just felt hurt.

"Sonic?" Tails tried to talk to him, no reply came, so he tried again, "Sonic, are you okay? I'm starting to get the feeling you're about to die with your eyes open."

Sonic then slightly turned his head towards Tails, but closed his eyes, "I know Tails," he sighed, "It's just, well, I did something I should be killing myself for, you don't need to know, Amy's bound to tell you sooner or later."

"I understand," Tails nodded, "But, why care for this hedgehog, she's now getting us all into trouble."

"No she's not." Sonic disagreed, "In fact, she's trying to get us all safe, but yet has failed, and has put herself in danger, we're trying to save someone that almost to us doesn't even exist, has no importance."

"Why then does Knuckles know him?" Tails asked, "If it seems he doesn't seem to exist, then why are we even talking about him?"

"I don't know Tails." Sonic said, "I thought I did, but now I, I just fee4l like now we're not making sense with one another."

Tails nodded, "Come on now Sonic, I'm sure that everything will turn out normal soon."

Sonic looked over at Tails and nodded, "Right, and so do I."

"And besides, you look more cool with gold eyes." Tails laughed a little, "They fit you more then green, matches the rings you hold."

Sonic smiled a little, then started to hear a sound he hadn't heard before, and stared back down at the ground, and listened. Voices entered, and strange sounds came in quickly, he tried to make out what they were, but just decided to listen.

_Yo man! We've got to stop him before it's too late…we all know that Kido, just stay behind me and, what…Dad…Kido, where's your sisters…oh my god! Mom…Kido! Meet Dominoris brother at the Leandro point, and make sure that Misty and Mura are safe…But Mom…You have no time, go and meet them…Mom, but, what about the others…Don't expect us all to survive just go…Ramaindna! Wait…Diver, leave me be…You're not going without help…Fine…Dormaun, what are you doing…I'm not leaving my brother behind, I've rescued his son, and they're with Kido, but I'm not leaving him…Let's go!_

"Sonic!" a silverfish voice entered his head.

Sonic blinked and looked around, and everyone stared at him. Sonic looked around, and seen a new person in the room, a female lightly tanned echidna. Her outfit reminded him of Tikal, but she wore jeans that flared at the bottom, but above the ankles, strings dangled at the gold trimmed rim, and on each string, had a special blue and red jewel tied to it. One her upper legs, the jeans at on each leg a hole surrounded by gold trim and red and blue jewels, the jeans themselves were white and gold, and looked stunning. Her top was designed to look ancient looking, also white and gold, but a few holes with the gold trim ran across the top. She wore special gold dreadlock bands on her right side, and wore a gold headband with red and blue jewels, also with an ancient design on it. Wrapped around her neck looked like Misty's necklace but with a different design, same colored jewels, but in a different formation. Lastly Sonic spotted was her arms, her left arm held a holographic gold tattoo design on it, covering almost her whole arm, along with a few gold bracelets. The other arm she had a gold band on her upper arm, and also with a few thin gold bracelets by her wrist. To Sonic, she was stunning.

"You must be Hikarari Thorestare." Sonic stated.

She smiled, "I happen to be, and I see you had a few flashback memories running through your head."

Sonic didn't speak, he knew that Hikarari was a lot like Misty; she too was also telepathic, but how much more or less?

"So, what will happen if we don't do something Hikarari?" Charmy asked, still gazing at all of her gold accessories.

"Well, lets sit in silence for a moment, and I'll tell you." Hikarari said while slowly sitting down.

Everyone sat and waited for her to reply, all had their fingers cross, hoping nothing any worse could come, Hikarari then glanced up and stared at Sonic.

"Chaos." Hikarari said.

"Chaos? Of course chaos, in our world." Rouge said.

"Not that Chaos," Hikarari said, "The Seven servers of Chaos, Chaos is power enriched by the heart, the controller is the one that unifies and controls the Chaos."

Sonic's head then clicked, _that blue creature, Chaos!_

"Right Sonic." Hikarari said out loud.

"Huh?" Tails wondered.

"Chaos, the one Sonic faced long ago." Hikarari said to him.

"What about Chaos?" Amy asked.

"He'll be summoned again." Hikarari started, "But not by the Guardian, nor Tikal, not anyone that anyone would expect, for yet, Eggman knows of his past."

"Shadow?" Vector spoke.

"I'm afraid not." Hikarari said letting her head drop a little.

"It's the one and only Espio." A weak voice spoke.

All their heads spun around, and found Misty, still wounded, standing in the doorway to the deck. All their faces turned pale, the look of what Misty's condition, bloodied up and bruises all over, she held herself up and breathed deeply, her wounds plunging out blood slowly. Charmy fainted before he could think, and Vector's mouth dropped.

"Espio?" Vector gasped.

"What in god's name happen to you?" Lakia wondered.

"No kidding." Aaron agreed.

"You look like you just came out of a shredder." Conore stated.

"That's not to be worried about." Misty said while slouching to the ground by Vector's seat, "Hikarari?"

"Misty is right." Hikarari nodded, "It is Espio."

"Why him though, what has he got to do with this?" Rouge questioned.

"Back many thousand years ago," Hikarari started, "there was only one tribe that knew the creator of the Master Emerald, and the original Chaos, Tikal's tribe, the creator was no echidna, but was very well known and trusted with the tribe. The creator had two sons, both loved his creation of Chaos, and soon got a hold of Chaos, and made it into the guardian of Chao, but also the Master Emerald's life source. In this tribe, Tikal existed at a young age, and the sons delivered an ancient Kiroshioneze spell to her, making her the official Guardian of the Master Emerald, they knew with her, people would believe her, but then yet they didn't know that greed would cause Chaos to run out of control and kill everyone in it's sight, except Tikal. The creator's sons were damned to the Dark of the Kiroshioneze, and were never to become normal again. Tikal summoned Chaos only once, and at that particular time, she ended up with Chaos, being the life source of the Master Emerald, it was then never disturbed for years to come.

"Our tribe, also knew about the creator soon after the accident, and had to start the Guardian system, to keep it safe and well protected, but then seen a few survivors of the other tribe, they then put the Master Emerald in their possession, that's how Knuckles became the Guardian."

"But how's Espio got to do with this?" Sonic asked her.

"The creator of the Master Emerald was a Kiroshioneze chameleon, and so were his sons, one of them was quickly a father at the age of fifteen, and made sure his fellow wife was safe.

"And the Kiroshioneze chameleon, happens to be, Espio's great grandfather, for yet, why Eggman wants Espio, because Espio is the only one who can summon Chaos with the Kiroshioneze power, making Chaos stronger, and almost invincible, and he's also the only one, to control Chaos with his own mind."

_Everyone went to shock to find why Espio was the first to be taken, but I had more on that, but now I feel I wasted my time grabbing the files, until late that night, I was reading them, and found how to stop Chaos and Espio, and restore them both to a normal state, this then was our key that I have found…_

_Hikarari I know as a dear friend, almost like a fourth sister, reason, my third is Lakia, my second is Marie, and my first, that will help us with this, is a woman I know of by the name of Carmen Segado…_


	15. Summoning Chaos Once and Again

**Chapter 15: **

**Summoning Chaos Once and Again**

All of their jaws dropped, Vector had fainted, and Sonic's face went to shock, almost literally. Misty sat with Charmy in her arms; Charmy shook in her arms, not because of her condition, but the fact that their best member is now considered a weapon. Marie nodded a little and stared at Hikarari a little, then the others.

Rouge then spoke, "So what can we do?"

"That I'm afraid I can't answer." Hikarari sighed, "Right now I would be more than happy to, but I'm limited, so I can't tell you."

"Is there though any way we can stop Eggman from summoning Chaos?" Amy asked.

"No, they already have the Master Emerald, and there's nothing that can slow it down."

Charmy then remembered the Master Emerald, "But the Master Emerald was at-"

"Ramaindna teleported to get it." Hikarari answered him early.

"Who's Ramaindna?" Tails wondered.

"One of Eggman's members now," Misty answered, "she's very deadly, and very useful to the Dark, and guess what I've got."

Misty then held up the amulet that they were told about, Hikarari shook her head, "and it's now useless for the moment."

"So wait," Misty glared at her, "So I went through being chewed up, nearly raped, cut to bits, nearly mutated, and nearly becoming a chew toy just to grab a amulet that's now useless?"

"Not entirely." Marie said, "Usually after the energy has been used, like for summoning, the amulet becomes useful again, so really, you didn't go through hell to get that."

"You've been chewed on? By what?" Conore asked Misty.

"Shadow, Knuckles, and Espio." Misty sighed, "When they found I didn't mutate, they decided to make me their meat source and started to devoured my blood out of my body, then Espio again attacked, and of course, reading his mind the thought of rape came to his mind."

"Boy has Eggman really messed these guys up." Charmy stated.

"No kidding." Aaron nodded.

"I've heard enough!" Sonic stood, "So, how do we defeat Chaos?"

The group stared at him; Sonic glanced around and noticed he spoke too soon, and then sat back down. Misty then spoke up again.

"I know someone though that could help out on this." Misty smiled.

"And who would that be?" Tails asked.

Misty grinned, "All I'll say is that she's very unique, and a very intelligent hedgehog."

-------------

"Call in the boys." Quazaireon said said, "Tonight, we summon Chaos, and we need to find a spot near Motor City to do so."

"Motor City?" Eggman questioned him.

"One of the largest cities nearest by," Quazaireon told him, "and also the city of racing, many people live there as street racers, but it is a perfect place to start the Empire you want. Believe me."

"I will then." Eggman nodded, then grabbed a mike and spoke into it, calling the boys in, "Alright boys, get into the main control room now, we've got things to do."

"Not yet now." Damion stated, "We need to make sure that nothing we need has been stolen."

"Nothing has," said Ramaindna, "She didn't have anytime to stop in her condition. But then yet we should've kept an eye on Espio more closely."

"Why do you say that?" Eggman asked her.

"Thanks to Quazaireon," Ramaindna glared, "He made the injection partly, but uncontrollably, one of his curses of insanity flowed through into the injection."

"In other words?"

"The curse will have a major effect on Espio's mind mostly, not much on the other two, but Espio mostly. Anything people declare as insane can happen, for instance, the urges of rape with no reason, but for only desire."

Eggman only stared at her, then turned to Quazaireon with a small stared, Quazaireon sighed, "I didn't even know, so don't ask me. Besides, Demeortris did that on purpose."

"Now, before I get mixed in mystery, who is this Demeortris?" Eggman sat.

"One of the Fake Element Demons." Ramaindna explained, "The oldest brother and controller of most things, except what the others can do, since Quazaireon is more of a Darkness creature, he is able to do whatever to his curses. Also is second hand with the Demon Phoenix. Two other Fakes follow him, while the other four belong to the Light, but yet have to sit under the older one's order, except Comestaros, the oldest sister, but also protects the True from following the Fake for so long.

"But I have no time to explain everything, right now we need to concentrate on protection, and defenses."

"Actually we don't." Espio spoke in the background.

All four spun around and faced Espio, Knuckles, and Shadow, who all stood side by side in a line. Espio was the only one covered in blood, and grinning softly, the look of great craving for more. Knuckles stood to the left of Espio, crossed arms and no expression. Shadow stood to the right, same as Knuckles, no expression either. The four looked at one another, then looked back at the three that stood in front. Quazaireon blinked a couple of times in oddly way, seeing Espio nearly on his knees, but the other two standing up fine.

He sighed, "Why Espio? If it was Shadow I could've understood, but him?"

"I couldn't help it." Espio gasped, "Just, the lust."

Quazaireon then felt himself just jump in rage; he then shoved his face into Espio's in anger, "Lust! Lust! You need to control yourself! We could've had a major crisis to deal with!" Quazaireon then stepped back a little and started to pace side to side, then stopped again, "Look at yourself, and compare yourself with the others! What triggered you for the lust, what? And what in hell was the lust for? Blood?"

"No…" Espio started to speak.

"Can we shut up now?" Knuckles roared.

Quazaireon stared at Knuckles, then walked to him, and gave him a fake glare, "I honestly would've preferred you to be the grandson, and I like how you act anyhow."

Espio snarled at him, Quazaireon's first thought was he in his mind pissed him off by word, and knew what to expect. Espio reared and jumped towards Quazaireon, Knuckles staggered backwards to avoid Espio's attack, and caught himself on a bar that stretched to the main door. Espio's fangs revealed, and his eyes turned quickly dark gray. Quazaireon jumped onto the ceiling, and glanced down, sweating a little.

"I may put curses on things, but I know one thing, I can't reverse them." Quazaireon shook a little, "Ramaindna, help?"

"You're the first one to crack I see." Ramaindna laughed a little.

"Oh shut the hell up and help me out." Quazaireon hollered.

Espio hissed at Ramaindna, and dashed at her, scaring Eggman's side, nearly slicing his body in half, he soon collapsed to the ground, gripping his side. Ramaindna had no intention of moving, and stared straight at Espio, who mutated instantly at the last second before he reached for her. Just after that second, her hand gripped his neck, and started to strangle him. Espio gasped for air, and slowly mutated to normal, and his eyes turned gold again, and slowly started to stop resisting.

Quazaireon dropped and turned to Eggman, blood was scattered all over the computer, and all over the floor. He spotted Damion, who was in his fox form, spooked up in a tight corner. He then looked at Ramaindna, neither shocked nor amused. He then glanced at the other two boys, which were still standing, unharmed.

"Knuckles or Shadow, get the first aid." Ramaindna ordered, "In it should be some cast wrap, get that quickly on Eggman. I've got this one."

Knuckles and Shadow nodded, and went out the main door. Ramaindna noticed then that Espio's head started to lower, she then kneeled, and lied him down on the ground, then released his neck. Espio's gasp sounded deep, and his eyes lit with life, he grabbed his neck and started to cough up blood, the blood spilled down his chin and chest, and pouring to the floor. The blood though had an effect on his chest, and an instant throbbing pain struck, he howled and grasped his chest, his hands now bloodied, and now drenched in blood from mouth to tail. He cried in pain, and his chest swelled up more then ever. Ramaindna knew this effect, and quickly grabbed an injection, she then stabbed it into Espio's chest, and a loud screech came from his mouth, blood spurted, and his eyes wide open, he then slowly passed out, and lied on the ground motionless.

Ramaindna stood, and looked over at Quazaireon, who sat, staring at Espio in shame. She then glanced over at Damion, who was also out on the floor motionless.

She sighed, "This is one big mess."

-------------

Silence rolled in the air, and birds of many types chirped, and a sound of a roaring motor slowly came, the sound was the sound of Misty's black Ford Mustang, which roared as transmissions were made, and nitrous added for extra boost. Red flames streamed across the side, and decals were printed on it from bumper to bumper. Misty sat inside driving, while Sonic sat in the "shotgun", Vector and Charmy sat in behind on the left, Rouge sat in the middle, and Tails sat to the right.

"Man, can this thing haul ass." Sonic commented, "I mean we're going almost 185 miles per hour."

"Never do this while near the street racing city." Misty laughed, "Besides, I have more of these, but in different years, but anyways, this gal lives with a echidna I know very well, and he's very intelligent with cars, and the hedgehog is known for decent guns and planning, also very strong with the storms of tomorrow."

"So, what are their names anyhow?" Tails asked her.

"The hedgehog, Carmen Segado, and the echidna, Alexis Echidna Jr., both are awesome, I consider them as my brother and sister."

"Just by the sound of Carmen, she sounds like one of those people that like risky business." Rouge stated.

"I've heard of her as that." Misty smiled, "but like they say, don't believe what you hear until you see it happen."

"True." Sonic nodded, "So, she and Alexis will help us?"

"The best they can, we really don't know what we're dealing with right now."

Misty's laptop by Sonic then started to make bleeping sounds, she opened the cover and on the screen it titled "Message from Alexis and Carmen", she punched in a password, and a screen showed a red and black female hedgehog, wearing a black tang-top, a black choker with a gold medallion, and large gold earrings dangling from her ears. Red and black bangs draped down by her right eye, and her face looked blank with no question.

"Hey Misty." She spoke.

"Heya Carmy" Misty replied, "What's up?"

"Well," Carmen started, "For one I see you have Sonic and some of his friends with ya, hey guys."

"Hi Carmen." The rest greeted.

"Plus," Carmen continued, "Alexis isn't here, he's gone for a while, and third, I got a message from Marie, she said something about Espio becoming a mutant, what that all about? You know that Team Purity will soon find out about this."

"Let them," Misty replied again, "And it's a hell of a long story, and ok, I see, so when will Alexis get back?"

"I'm not sure, he never said." Carmen shook her head.

"Carmen." Sonic started off.

"What's up Sonic?" Carmen asked him.

"Well, we were told that you were willing to help us, and we were wondering…"

"Of course I will." Carmen smiled, "A mutant battle, I'll do that anytime, but it sorta depends on what we're dealing with, and actually, I quit making guns, but I'm sure we'll come up with something."

"Where will you be at?" Misty asked her.

"I'll be here, don't worry." Carmen nodded, "I'll tell Alexis you're on your…"

Another voice sounded in the background, a male voice, Spanish accent, and a bit deep, but not enough to be noticed. On the screen then a black echidna appeared in front of the screen, and Carmen disappeared from view.

"Hey sis." He smiled.

"Heya Alexis." Misty greeted back.

"So you're on your way?" Alexis asked, "Cause you better hurry."

"What's the rush?" Rouge asked him.

"I think your worst enemy slash old friend has just arrived a bit early." Alexis sighed in irritation, "Eggman's ship isn't in view from where you're at, but he's right above the city."

Sonic sighed and slouched back, "Not already."

"Yes, already, but nothing's happened yet." Alexis mentioned, "Just hurry and get here as fast as you guys can think, and meet me on the roof, I have a feeling Eggman's planning something with a flood. Alexis and Carmen out."

The screen then went blank, and Misty shut her laptop down, and then shifted gear to gain more speed. The gang sat in disgrace, now irritated that Eggman was at Motor City before they even got there.

"So, what now?" Vector asked.

"What Alexis said probably is true," Tails mentioned, "But maybe we should keep our eyes open for Espio, just in case."

"And I don't blame ya." Misty agreed, "Hang on, we're on a straight away right to Motor City."

Misty pressed a nitrous button, and the Mustang roared with energy and boosted up in speed quickly, pushing everyone back against the seats even harder. Quickly the Mustang went to a fifth transmission, and gained more speed, as it surged across the straight away leading to the endangered Motor City.

-------------

Multiple ships hovered over the city, police cars screamed with sirens all over the city, along with fire trucks, and later, the SWAT team showed up. On the nose of the mother ship, sat Espio, who stared down at the city, his loose tail whipping behind him with impatience, waiting for his name to be called once and again, but not for a small deed, nor to help stop a breach, but to finally get the better of a chance to becoming more powerful. Though a bit wounded from earlier, he kept his place, and grinned a little, his head started to think heavy, heavy thoughts of domination ruled his head, at least for the moment.

His head then went black, his sight was lost, and his position was frozen in place, unable to move. He didn't panic, but started to wonder, what was going on. He felt his mind leave him, and the next thing he knew, he reopened his eyes, and only a bright light shown into his eyes. Then the light faded, and he seen himself in a forest, a dark and misty forest, only crows cawed and howls of wolves broke into the air. He sat up and looked around, feeling a headache come through his head.

He shook his head a little, "Good lord, what happened."

"Wouldn't you like to know." A dark voice echoed through the forest.

Espio glanced around, and then noticed he had his actual mind in control of his body, he sighed in relief, but then stared around the forest, trying to find out where the voice came from. He then started to walk to a broken tree, and then a loud wolf howl broke into the air. Espio shrieked a little in fright, then started to walk backwards, and tripped on a stump, near the broken log behind him. He began to panic, and glanced around the forest, only darkness surrounded him, and dark trees shaded by the mist ahead of him. A wall of hard wood then touched his back, and he slowly started to crouch in fear.

The voice then echoed again, "What's wrong, afraid of being alone?"

"Who are you?" Espio hollered, then heard his own voice echo into the forest.

"Why, you don't even know who I am?" the voice started to sound more solid, "Now that's hat I call disappointment, not knowing who I truly am."

"Espio stood up and spun around rapidly, "Show yourself! I want to know who you are."

"As you wish then." The voice stated, then a wolf howl followed it.

Espio stood his ground, and gazed all around with caution, knowing just by the sound, it was true danger, and also knew, that the voice was someone he most feared, but what he was still trying to figure out was how he got here.

Snarling broke into the air from behind, and he snapped back to his head, but found himself tackles to the ground, claws pierced through his skin. The stinging sensation started to fade, his back started to go numb, and he felt his arms go useless. Hissing noise started to sound by his head, and started to creep closer to the front. He tried to turn his head, for his neck stiffened, he slowly tried to turn his head, he then spotted was look like a snake, a small horn sat on the muzzle; by the look it was blind. It turned to Espio's face, and opened its mouth, which was filled with the sharpest teeth Espio's seen.

"Say hello to what is now you, Espio." The voice laughed, now sounding a lot like Espio's own voice.

Espio's neck loosened quickly, and Espio's head spun around to see the attacker, and found his own face staring at him with the cruelest smile. It was his own self, but evil. Espio's mouth dropped in shock, his face turned pale, and he felt his own heart stop.

The evil Espio grinned wider, "Say goodbye to what used to be Espio the chameleon, and say hello to Espio, the mutant weremeleon."

"What?" Espio gasped.

He then seen the evil Espio's jaws open, a and then last thing he remembered was large sharp teeth coming at his face, the image blanked, and then he opened his eyes once again, and found himself back on the nose of the mother ship, above Motor City. He was mobile once and again, and his mutant self was regained again.

"Espio!" Knuckles called from behind him, "Come on, we need to start!"

Espio turned his head only a little, then glanced back at the city below, he then jumped and quickly mutated to his mutant form, and flew swiftly past Knuckles with great bursts of wind trailing behind. Knuckles stared at Espio for a moment, and also mutated, and followed him.

-------------

Quazaireon paced back and forth with the thought of Chaos finally being summoned again. He couldn't help but mumble the most destructive ideas he could think of, for world domination, universe power, and much more. He felt his dark heart race in a fast motion, for yet he was excited, so was the wounded Eggman. Eggman sat with a cast over his wound from Espio's rage; the wound still bled, but not as much as it had right after. Ramaindna stood looking out through the window in front of her, seeing Motor City stretching a ways from where she stood. Her head started to fill with questions about Misty, and for some reason, she could see memories of her past. Quazaireon noticed Ramaindna's expression, and knew one thing, she wasn't going to be the same after mentioning Misty, but he knew not to speak of why, so he kept silent, and continued pacing back and fourth.

"We're ready." Shadow said as he walked through the door.

Quazaireon stopped and turned to Shadow, "Really? Master Emerald in place?"

"Yes." Shadow nodded.

"Is Espio ready?"

"Yes."

"Let's see, anything else?" Quazaireon asked around.

"Yes." Ramaindna stated, "Are the Emeralds in place?"

"Yes also." Shadow nodded again.

"Then we are, let's go." Eggman said as he got up slowly.

"They followed Shadow out of the doorway, and all was left was still. Damion, lying on the floor, didn't even move from his spot, for yet he was fast asleep.

The room was barely silent, the sound of charging energy was in air, and so were databases being put onto Eggman's computer, showing charge levels and much more, everything seemed fine as it ran. Knuckles stared through a window, where Espio and the Emeralds were in, the Master Emerald on a large panel that sat higher than where Espio sat, while the Chaos Emeralds sat even higher around the Master Emerald, like the original Angel Island alter.

Espio himself sat in front of the Master Emerald two steps down, cross-legged, eyes closed, and his chin sitting on his knuckles. His thoughts were the same, blank, but yet something would pop up once in a while during the silence in his mind. The silence was then broken when he heard a door crash with metal, and he turned his head towards the sound, seeing Eggman and the others in view, his heart started to race. Ramaindna then entered into the large room, and walked up to him, the clicking sounds of her high heels against metal as she walked up the stairs to him. Espio stood up and glared at her a little, his fists gripped, and his tail started to curl to normal.

"This will be the last time you'll stand on your own feet." Ramaindna warned him, "For I fear there is no return to normal, but if there is, it would be the most difficult way, unless, you do wish to not continue this."

Espio glanced at the Master Emerald behind him, and then turned to Ramaindna, he then nodded, "Let us continue this."

"Very well then." Ramaindna nodded, and turned away, and walked down the stairs.

Espio turned and stepped up two more steps, and kept his eye right on the Master Emerald. A intercom then echoed through the room with Eggman's voice in it, "Start off Espio, we're ready here."

Espio closed his eyes, and let down his arms to his sides, his hands open widely, and his mind now concentrating on the Master Emerald that sat in front of him. He then started to speak, "The Seven servers is Chaos, Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one who unifies and controls the Chaos." He paused, and bowed his head to his closed hands in front of his head, and continued, "Amen the old and damned the new, for yet the blood of the creator shall control and do, his heart Dark, his soul gone," He then opened his eyes and waved his hands in front of the Master emerald, which then started to glow greatly, "The one of Chaos, and the one of lust, bring the perfect Chaos back to life!"

The Master Emerald then glowed brighter, and the Chaos emeralds started to form electricity from behind, then connected with the Master Emerald, the electrical paths then glowed in a beam formation, then from the Master Emerald, a dark light beamed at Espio's body, and started to cover his body in a transparent layer, soon Espio started to glow a transparent purple, and he spoke again, "Chaos of destruction, Chaos of power, as your creator, I shall control you, so now, Chaos, become part of me!" Espio's eyes reopened, and his eyes were demented. A blue light shown above the Master emerald, and through the light, Chaos appeared, and bolted to Espio, and quickly shifted to a smaller version of his perfect form, and entered into Espio's body. The glowing stopped, and Espio shouted with power, his muscles contracted, baring the force of Chaos entering his body with such great might. Espio's mind then changed completely, his old self went to a mutant, and now, his mutant mind, had changed to a destructive, powering, and the lust for blood mind, for that was what he craved and told Chaos to do, enter his own body, and he give Espio the power, while Espio gave Chaos the actions.

In the room, which Eggman and the others sat, Knuckles and Shadow instantly fell to the floor, both passed out, no one shrieked or panicked, they all knew this effect was part of the summoning.

Quazaireon grinned evilly, "Timed to flood the city."

Quazaireon started to laugh, then Eggman, who held his side, the soon after Ramaindna also started to laugh. All were excited for the moment, and continued to laugh. Espio on the other hand was on his hands and knees, gasping for air, his first thought, of all things, was where's fresh blood?

-------------

They all were on the roof of Misty's co-owned business, TTFAM, or The Tikal Fan Auto Mechanics. There stood Sonic, Misty, Tails, Rouge, Carmen, and Alexis. Vector and Charmy sat by a small storage shed, and listened to the conversation. All were worried about the fact that Eggman's ship was above Motor city, knowing he usually has something bad planned in mind.

"It's after we see what happens is when we'll know what to do." Carmen mentioned, "Right now it could be anything, after reading some of Marie's explanation, I really don't know what to expect."

"Here's something you should know though." Misty raised a finger, "Last time I seen him, he was a menacing, blood thirsty, violent, raping, disgusting, carnivorous, vicious, and scary looking creature, knowing that he has a mutant form."

Carmen and Alexis stared at Misty, Sonic then stood up to them, "I may also have one, but do you see me run out of control, no, Misty gave the form to me. So we're even right?"

"Don't get your hopes up too high Sonic." Alexis warned, "Do so, and we may be in for a big surprise."

"And what could that be exactly?" Rouge asked.

A loud crashing sound burst into the air, the sound of shattering glass, not far from where they stood, on top of the building, glancing at where the sound was most likely made. Alexis gasped a little at the sight of a building spurting out large amounts of water, non-stop, it showed no sign of termination. The rest then noticed the building just moments later, and also gasped, they then all knew that the worst was coming, that's when Charmy cried out in fear.

"Aaaah! Guys! Look out!" Charmy cried out.

They all turned to see where Charmy pointed, a large shadow then cast above them, in front of the sun, tumbled a large water wave, headed straight for them, about to cover the building with water. Sonic and Misty acted fast and quickly bonded minds. At that moment, Sonic became lost in his bonding with Misty, and soon realized that he was helping Misty with a shield she had quickly built. In the background, they all shrieked at the sight of the wave coming at them. The shield was quickly finished just in time for the wave to hit it. Misty and Sonic both nearly stumbled backwards from the force of the wave hitting the shield that was formed around them. The group, stood in surprise, seeing the water up above them, glide over them. It soon settled, and the shield was set down, both Misty and Sonic collapsed to their knees, and breathed deeply.

Sonic then turned to Misty, "Thanks, that saved us."

"No, thank you." Misty smiled back at Sonic with relief, "If you hadn't help me with the shield, we've would've probably been swept away by the wave."

Misty staggered up and looked over the edge of the building, and found water has already nearly reached the roof of the building. Misty gulped a little, and tried to reach the water with her arm, and found it was just inches from her fingertips. She stood up again, and then faced the group.

"Well?" Carmen asked her.

"Just under two yards from the roof." Misty gulped a little, "I'm surprised it didn't even come almost twice more from where it's at, especially for a ten story building."

Sonic sighed, "Lucky break."

"No kidding." Tails agreed, "Just looking at the size of that wave, you'd think we'd be underwater where we're standing."

"Hey guys." Rouge said, "Does anyone have any idea that the water's getting to the rooftop faster than we are thinking?"

They all glanced down, and found the water was rising fast, their hopes then dropped, and found they weren't getting out of this dry, that though changed. The sound of a car roaring by made them wonder. They all glanced over and found Alexis driving up just below them, in a car that acted like a boat, but the wheels were at normal state; the car itself was practically hovering above the water.

Alexis smiled, "God bless Misty's cous, Carmen, Vector, Charmy, and Tails, get in, Rouge and Sonic, ride on Misty, there's a building we can stay on, I spotted it not far from here."

They all acted, Misty shifted to her fox form, and formed wings, and Sonic got on, but no Rouge. Sonic glanced up to find Rouge in air.

"I can fly, so what's the point?" Rouge shrugged.

"The point is Rouge is not to become Espio's mate." Misty growled a little, "Plus, we'd hate to see you go, so get on, whether you can fly or not."

"And I'd do the same if I were you Rouge." Sonic agreed, "We may not know her quiet as well, but she's our only hope."

Rouge stood airborne for a moment, giving a blank stare at the two, they also stared back at her, hearing Alexis' Dodge Charger roar and take off. Soon, Misty became impatient, and turned towards the sound of the Charger. Misty then went airborne, and held herself near Rouge, still not changing her expression.

"I'm not leaving until you decide Rouge." Misty told her, "Which would you rather do, follow me and have a chance of being the next prey, or hop on and have the better chance of survival, knowing what could be around?"

Rouge continued to stare, then nodded, and landed behind Sonic onto Misty's lower backside. Misty smiled and quickly dove towards the Charger that wasn't far from her sight.

"So what can we expect?" Vector asked, "I mean, we know Espio can summon Chaos now, but I mean, what else is there to expect?"

"Probably more than likely see Chaos in his perfect form again." Carmen presumed.

"Or maybe even worse." Tails said looking out the side window, "That Quazaireon guy with more company behind him, helping Chaos."

"What now?" Alexis asked.

"Look! It's them!" Charmy pointed out, reaching over Vector's snout.

Vector and Carmen glanced over, and spotted Quazaireon running across the top of buildings, followed by two others. Carmen took a microphone and spoke into it quickly.

"Misty! Can you hear me?" Carmen spoke.

Misty heard Carmen's voice, and spoke back, "Yeah, what's up?"

"We have more than Espio to deal with, look to your right!" Carmen told her.

Misty, Sonic, and Rouge turned and found Quazaireon, in their sight he ran across with great speed, followed by what Misty knew, Shadow and Knuckles, both in mutant state. A sound of thunder echoed through the skies, and Sonic noticed one thing, the ship was now in the clouds, and at the same time the ship disappeared from sight, it began to rain, and hard enough, Misty glided down on top of the Charger and her wings disappeared.

"You know I don't recall a forecast saying that a rainstorm would blow in at this time." Rouge complained while holding Misty's back and kneeling on the Charger.

Alexis heard Misty's arrival on top of the roof, and continued to drive, and found the building he was looking for, and found a ramp to drive on to get to the top of it. He quickly pressed down on the gas pedal, and the Charger gained speed, and sped up the road like ramp, and landed on the roof of the thirty-story building, and parked under a sheltered area.

Misty, Sonic, and Rouge were soaked; Misty then jumped down and shook herself dry, and shifted to normal. Sonic just sat on top Alexis' Charger, dripping, wet, and Rouge jumped down beside Misty, and tried to dry herself off. Everyone got out of the Charger, and glanced out at the nearly drowned city, with everyone nearly surprised, Misty sighed.

"Well." Misty said, "I guess this is gonna make things a bit more difficult then what I expected."

_Chaos has now been summoned, and Shadow and Knuckles are at his side, Espio now even stronger, with this force, it felt like is was impossible to defeat him…_


	16. Through the Storm to Rivalry

**Chapter 16: **

**Through the Storm to Rivalry**

"Dayem." Rouge sighed, "Now we have to go through this just to help Espio, this is wild."

"I can imagine what will happen when we're ever done with this." Tails said.

"I don't blame ya." Carmen nodded.

"But it said today was suppose to be sunny." Alexis commented, "And I know one thing, they haven't even mentioned the word "rain" on their forecast for today."

"Well then, what made this storm appear?" Vector asked, "I no not the rain-maker."

"Unless there is one." Charmy said, staring out at the city.

"Wait a minute." Sonic said, "Why would the ship go into the clouds when lightning could hit it and destroy it?"

Misty stared out and blinked, "Because the rain-maker is Damion."

"Damion?" Vector questioned.

In the distance, a loud howl of something large boomed nearby, and the group turned to the city, and seen nothing. Sonic eyes scanned the area in front of him, and seen nothing, but knew the sound.

"Chaos." Sonic growled.

-------------

Rain beat on dead glass and bruised buildings, and some steam rose from the hot roads that have now drowned in the water. Quazaireon led Knuckles and Shadow across the buildings he leaped, taking no small step on the roofs, and kept his eyes in front of him. Sprinting from building to building, he left prints behind that steamed as rain hit, but then soon faded after a short time, and small purple clouds rose high, more closer to the clouds above, but soon disappeared from sight. Knuckles and Shadow were both in their mutant sages, and flapped their wings on occasions, and folded them when they stormed down, their breaths seen through the rain, as their wings got soaked in wetness that poured down.

Quazaireon then stopped at a edge just under his paws, and he stared out over the city, seen only buildings and towers pouring out water, and once he seen a new water spurt out of a window not far from where he stood. His mane and tail blew in the wind and was drenched to flood out the purple highlights that were barely visible to the eye. The other two behind him landed on all fours and waited for Quazaireon's word, so far, nothing.

A roar echoed not far, and Quazaireon acted fast, "Come! Follow the sound."

Quazaireon jumped down and ran along the side of the building, followed by the two that folded their wings, and dove down fast, trailing Quazaireon, who soon sprung from the side and started sprinting again after landing on another building. Highways stuck up from the water, and poles sat all over the ruined city. Flames verily shown, most have been put out, and some spark of electricity jumped in the most random of places from wires and electric cords that floated.

Quazaireon came to a halt, and waited for the other two to catch up, he then turned and smiled grimly.

"It was a success." Quazaireon said, "Now your guy's job is to guard him, and make sure no one even gets near, otherwise, make sure they suffer."

They nodded, and flew up over Quazaireon, head towards what Quazaireon called a success, or Chaos, that sat in a circle of buildings. What lied inside of Chaos in the very center, sat the resting one, and the one who summoned Chaos, Espio.

-------------

"Sounds like the Perfect Chaos is reborn again." Carmen pointed out.

"So what do we do?" Rouge asked.

"At this point, I don't think anyone knows." Misty said, "All I know is to make things a bit easier, is to stop Damion, who's causing this rainstorm."

"Yeah." Sonic agreed, "If there's anything I hate, it's water, and a rainstorm won't help us defeat Chaos."

"So Misty." Vector entitled, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Well." Misty wondered, "We could try and get Conore over here with the Nightstar, and get us up to the ship so we can fight Damion off."

"In this?" Alexis questioned, "I don't think we can even contact him in this situation."

"Well then Misty will fly us there." Sonic said raising a finger.

"Or we can try that." Misty grinned a little.

"And who is us anyhow?" Charmy asked.

"Misty, Rouge and I." Sonic answered.

"What? I'm going?" Rouge cried.

"Can't bring Vector and Charmy, and not Alexis and Carmen, so, yes." Misty nodded.

"We'll wait here then until you guys return." Carmen reminded them.

"If anything happens, and we're killed," Sonic told them as he got on Misty after she shifted, "Get out of here, I know one thing, Chaos alone is a pain, so get out of here if matters get to the worst."

They nodded, and watched as the three stepped out into the storm, and flew off, Rouge following Misty and Sonic, and headed up into the clouds.

"Well, let's hope they're right." Carmen sighed.

"We want Espio back!" Charmy demanded, "And we won't stop until we do get him back!"

"Along with Knuckles and Shadow." Vector reminded him.

-------------

The storm had gotten worse even before they left, the winds howled through their ears, and the rain had gotten stronger and hit their faces painfully, like darts shot from guns. Rouge kept loosing control of her flight and finally decided to climb onto Misty behind Sonic, folding up her wings tightly so the wind doesn't throw Misty off of her course. Soon the rain was calm, and the wind lightened to a small breeze, this signified they weren't far. Then just moments later, the ship finally came into view, they were right under it, and Misty changed her course to head up in more of a steeper angle. All three were relieved that they were able to get out of the storm, and to find themselves drying quickly.

"Gesh, I'd thought that storm was going to produce hail for a moment." Rouge said rubbing her head.

"I'm surprised it hadn't." Sonic replied.

I guess you two can now go airborne again." Misty mentioned, "Besides, we can get to the top faster."

Rouge quickly hopped off and gained behind Misty, Sonic jumped off afterwards, and in a quick two seconds, he mutated to his mutant form and followed next to Misty's left wing, his eyes remain gold, but the pupils thinned out, staring at the ship they flew along with. All three kept their course for the moment, and finally reached the top of the ship, they quickly landed on a runway that surfed on both of their sides. They landed, and then a second later, Misty and Rouge collapsed to the ground, moaning in irritation. Sonic shifted to his normal state and stared out at the near-flat surface in front of him, his face holding a curious expression.

"I hope we don't have to go through that again." Rouge sighed, lying on the metal facing up.

"We won't have to if we can take care of it." Misty said while lying on her stomach, "If anything, I know the worst will come if we don't hurry."

"Well then lets hurry then." Sonic said.

Misty quickly stood up and shifted into what look like Shadow, Sonic stared at her for a moment, then laughed, "You're not going as Shadow are you?"

"Trust me." Misty said in Shadow's voice, "I know Damion, and he has the most dimmest minds, but, I can't find him with you guys loose."

Rouge stood up, "So we have to be cuffed?"

"More then likely," Misty turned, "But I'll do it when either I spot him, or after a moment or two."

All three nodded at one another, then looked to their right to find the runway ending at a long distance ahead, so then they bolted off towards the end of the runway, then jumped down, disappearing from sight.

-------------

They waited patiently under the sheltered area, and sat in the Charger for warmth, since now the temperature was dropping, no thanks to the rain and wind. Carmen and Alexis sat in front, trying to find a radio station that was still alive, so far, nothing, while Tails, Vector, and Charmy sat in back, all glancing through the rear window to see the city's condition, which remained the same.

Alexis sighed, "Nothing, it's either everyone drowned, or they escaped, but didn't have something of spare resource."

"Yeah, nothing's coming in." Carmen stated.

"So we're stuck here as possibly the only survivors here?" Vector asked.

"Maybe." Alexis nodded.

"I'm scared!" Charmy cried out, "I want this just to be a dream!"

"Charmy, it's gonna be okay." Vector tried to comfort, "I also want this to be a dream."

"We all do Charmy." Carmen turned, "And I bet Espio's soul wishes the same thing."

Charmy let out a few tears, and hugged Carmen around her neck; Carmen paused for a moment, and then hugged Charmy back.

Alexis then turned to the two, "Charmy, have some faith, besides, Misty's trying her hardest with Sonic and Rouge to save Espio, and I know that Misty's other friends are doing the same."

"Alexis! Are you there?" a voice spoke into the intercom.

Alexis spun towards the intercom, and push the button labeled reply, and spoke back, "Hello? Who is this?"

"Alexis!" The voice spoke back in excitement, "It's Conore, where are you?"

Everyone spun around and watched Alexis and the intercom; Alexis then replied again, "Motor City, but it's now flooded to nearly the building we stand on right now."

"Espio summoned Chaos?" Conore questioned.

"Sounds like it, and also looks like it."

"I got a call from Eggman stating he seen you guys there. Don't know why, but he told me that he was planning on destroying that city by first with a rainstorm and flood; otherwise that's how I knew. Are you guys okay?"

"So far." Alexis stated.

"Can I speak to Misty at least?"

"Um, Conore," Carmen spoke, "She isn't here."

"Where is she?" Conore asked.

"Well, let's say she going to kill the rain-maker." Alexis said.

-------------

"Well, he's nowhere to be seen." Sonic said, "What does he look like again?"

"Black and green hedgehog," Misty started to explain as she was in the form of Shadow, "Wears black, some piercing, a few bangs above his face, and the same goes with his fox form."

"He also has a fox form?" Rouge asked aggravated.

"Unfortunately, yes." Misty nodded, "In fact, he's almost like my twin brother, but he's not. Why I say that is he used to also be a Traveling Earthesen, or at least had almost the same powers as me, but mind power was all he lacked, otherwise he's my Shadow. And unfortunately, I was the one that gave him a fox form. So part of him was my fault."

"Don't feel guilty Misty, I mean, Shadow, haha." Sonic laughed a little, "Besides, we're all in this for Espio himself. Since he is the main cause."

Rouge slouched on a wall nearby, and sat quietly, while Misty and Sonic sat around in a triangle, all were quiet, and no one spoke for the moment. Misty stayed as Shadow, and Sonic sat with his eyes down. He then turned to Misty.

"I forgot to ask." Sonic remembered, "Once in occasion, I'd hear voices, voices I never even heard of, some sounded like they're talking about now, and some doesn't even sound like that."

"Don't worry about it." Misty said, "Just don't worry about them, they're nothing important from what I was told."

Sonic nodded, then stared back at the ground, and kept his sight there for the longest of that current time, and then it was pure stillness.

"So you guys think you're going to stop Espio?" a voice echoed from above.

All three glanced up, and what stood above them on the edge was the black hedgehog Misty described, Damion. Sonic immediately jumped up and growled at him a little, then Rouge stood up and spun around the way the other two were.

"So you're the one causing the storm." Rouge pointed out.

"So what if I am?" Damion laughed, "Besides, your Shadow friend there is on our side."

In Sonic's mind Misty's voice echoed through quickly, _See what I mean, he doesn't even know that the real Shadow is with Knux and Chaos._

Sonic snickered a little, and then glanced back up at Damion, "Are you sure about it? I mean, isn't Shadow really the ultimate life form? Wouldn't he be kind of difficult to make into a mutant?"

"I don't believe so." Damion said while raising his head high, "Besides, since when Shadow so hard to get?"

"When he's fake." A dark voice told him from behind.

Damion spun around, and found Shadow standing right in front of him, he stood in shock and stared. Shadow laughed a little, and then punched Damion right in the gut, causing him to fall over off the edge. Sonic then realized it was still Misty, she just went behind Damion in great speed. Both Rouge and Sonic split and ran different directions to avoid Damion, who soon landed on the metal loudly. Misty then jumped back down, and held Damion by the throat, gripping tightly.

"Stop the storm, and I'll spare your life." Misty said still as Shadow.

"I'd rather die and let you all suffer the wrath." Damion growled.

Misty then shifted to normal, and revealed herself to Damion, "What if it was me demanding it?"

"Then you're going to die." Damion grinned evilly suddenly, "You and me only, fight til death, if any of those two interfere, they'll pay with their souls."

Misty nodded to Sonic, his mind again received Misty's voice, _If that's what he wants, that's what he'll get. But, I do want you to run around and see if there's anything suspicious around, bring Rouge with you, and whatever you do, don't help me._

Misty turned her head away from Sonic, then kicked Damion out of the way, and bolted back to where The three started, Damion shifted to his fox form, looking a lot like Misty's fox form, and ran after her. Sonic watched for a moment as they both disappeared into the clouds gliding over another runway below the one they ran across, he stared at it for a while, his eyes reflecting the movements of the clouds. He didn't obey Misty at all; he then sped and followed the two.

"Sonic! Wait up!" Rouge said as she became airborne and flew behind Sonic.

-------------

Flames flew into the air, and the sound of metal singing below their feet kept occurring. Misty and Damion fought one another with skill, but what seemed more occurring was Misty was more slick than powerful, and Damion was opposite, more powerful than slick. Both clanged against one another, and both either made a kick, or shoved one another near a trap that lied by.

They ran a few yards, and attacked one another again, they shifted to their fox forms and tried to bite or burn one another. They shifted to normal, and tried to kick or shove one another again. Soon, Damion summoned the rainstorm to climb to the ship, and it began to rain hard, this time, lightning strikes came in random spots.

They continued to fight, lightning striking everywhere rapidly, and Misty tried her hardest to dodge every strike that was made. She though also kept her eye on Damion, who always tried to make a second attack after she dodges a strike. The rain made the metal sleek and hazardous, which made their attacks worse. Puddles of water began to form everywhere, and metal started to rust, making the traps they planned either worthless, or effective.

Sonic wasn't far behind, and tried to keep up with the two, followed by Rouge who finally caught up to Sonic. Her wings were letting water glide over her wings, and kept her in flight. Sonic turned to rouge to see what she had to say for that moment, and kept silent as he continued to run.

"You're not willing to take another risk again are you?" Rouge shouted through the thunder.

"This time it's for the better," Sonic said shouting back, "She's someone who can help, and I'm not letting her die in a fight between two hedgehogs of different sides."

"But Sonic!" Rouge cried out again, "You heard what Damion said, you'll pay with your life."

"And like I give a damn, I owe Misty one anyhow!"

Both glared at one another viciously, not changing their expression, until Damion seen the edge of the ship, he grinned a little at her. Misty looked back clueless, and stared back at him. Damion then leaped and tripped Misty's right leg, making her stumble to her left, shortly she came to an edge, and did a back flip, but ended up off the edge. She quickly acted and reached for the edge with her hands with her life, and was able to get a hold of it, but nearly slipped when her legs followed through. Misty then found herself near death, below her, clouds of mystery, above her, Damion stood, giving the death look, all Misty could think of doing was panic, since she looked down at her chest, and seen her necklace was gone, no hope was all then she felt.

"Going down so soon?" Damion kneeled down, "I mean hey, we're just getting into the good stuff you know. If only though there was a way to…"

"Join our side." A rough voice interrupted Damion.

Damion glanced over then grinned back at Misty, then walked off, and what came in as a replacement, was Eggman, who kneeled back down and smiled at Misty, his glasses reflected her like a mirror, and Misty soon was chilled just by the sight. Lightning struck behind him, letting a small shadow fade down on her. Seeing the dark clouds slowly roll by, she looked back down below her, which was also dark clouded, she had two choices to choose from, and she knew one of them was most hated.

"I find you as a attractive hedgehog, you know." Eggman grinned, "If only you were my kind of a gal."

Misty growled, "Oh just let me die so I don't deal with you."

"Why? It would be an honor to have you on our team, besides, you'd make a good wife to Damion or Espio." Eggman sneered.

"Go to hell." Misty snarled, "You're only making matters worse."

"Oh really?" Eggman cocked his head.

A loud roar bellowed from below, behind the clouds. Misty knew then they were just above Chaos, which wasn't good. Lightning cracked below her, then above her a second later, she looked down again, then back up, her red eyes fading to a mahogany. She felt her arms loose feeling, and then knew instantly that she was about to fall without knowing it.

Eggman lend out a hand to her, and smiled, "I can spare your life from Espio's hunger for destruction. But I have some other deal you have to do for me if you want to be saved. Just take my hand and I'll spare your soul and only three of your friend's life. But like I said, a price will have to be made."

Misty said nothing, and glanced at Eggman's, then, with great intention, she couldn't help but bite his hand, he teeth feeling through his gloves. Eggman shouted in pain, and jerked back his hand and stood up quickly, hearing the ripping sound of his glove being ripped. Eggman looked down at Misty, and found a bit of blood on her lip, she then spit out more blood, and glared at Eggman.

"I prefer you die before any deal was to be made." Misty growled.

"Suit yourself then." Eggman sneered, then edging by Misty's hands, "Sayonara, Misty."

He stomped on both of her hands, and pain struck her instantly, making her release the edge and cry out in pain, and she quickly started to fall. No sound of panic or fear came from her, but she dove into the clouds below her, and she disappeared from his sight. Damion then walked by him and glanced down where Misty fell.

"Sadly she refused." Damion said, "We would've had a good time."

"Just keep the storm going now." Eggman said while turning away.

Damion followed him, with the sound of metal still clinging under their feet. Only then the sound of rain, thunder, and lightning cracking fell upon them, nothing else.

Damion then heard a strange sound, though it sounded so deep, it was barely recognizable, so he continued on. He then heard more strange sounds, this time, it was wings flapping, and he spun around, and found himself attacked by something large. Whatever it was, it tore through his clothing and into his skin, his chest bled rapidly. Damion then collapsed to the ground, his chest aching in pain, and feeling a claw stuck in his rib cage, stabbing into his lungs. Eggman also heard the wing flapping just before, and spun around, seeing Damion on the ground, he spun around again and seen Sonic, in his mutant state, and on his back was Rouge and Misty. Sonic then shifted to normal, and glared at Eggman.

"You," Sonic growled, "You, of all people, had to become something else, and nearly kill someone I cared for? How dare you!"

"Well, if it ain't the blue blur." Eggman mocked, "Though I'd never thought you'd become more furious."

Sonic then drawn out claws, and his gold eyes then slowly pin-pointed Eggman, and his pupils thinned out, "I had enough of you, you may have helped us in the past, but this has now drawn the line." Sonic then screeched at Eggman and charged at him, tackling him to the ground, and started to strangle him with his bare hands. Sonic's eyes didn't move from Eggman's glasses, and so he still stared with rage, "Sayonara, Eggman!" A lightning snapped behind Sonic, and he raised his hand with claws at Eggman, ready to make a final strike to the face or heart. But it was then gripped and held back, "No!" Misty cried, he turned and found her holding his hand back, her expression wasn't like it was, but it showed discouragement.

"Let him live." Misty said, "You're wasting your energy already."

Sonic growled a little, then looked fiercely at Eggman, who's face shown very little innocence. Sonic then let down his hand, and backed off, letting Eggman to his feet, and watched him run away in fear. Sonic sat on his knees, then looked at Misty, who already was up and running, but in the opposite direction, after Damion. Rouge trailed behind her, and Sonic quickly then trailed behind Rouge, watching their every move silently.

Damion staggered to the edge of the ship and was about to jump off of it, so he could die before he would get caught. Misty was quick enough though to grab his collar around his neck and jerk him backwards, and held him by the edge, holding his ruined coat tightly.

"You're not going to die until you stop both storms!" Misty hollered, "Stop the storms, and I'll let you die on your own."

"And what if I don't?" Damion tried to fight back.

"I'll let you suffer, but not to death." Misty said jerking him again, "Now stop the storms!"

Damion started to shake, then he closed his eyes, and soon, the storm cleared, and no sound was made. Clouds lightened in color, and the rain faded away. Misty glared at him again, "Is the other storm gone?"

"Yes. I swear." Damion cried out, "Now just let me go, un-unless you want to be best friends again."

Misty stared at him, and ripped his necklace from his neck, "You were once, but you turned on me for something else." Misty then pushed Damion off of the edge, and heard him cry out as he fell. Sonic paused and waited to see if Misty would act. Misty though ignored what was around her, and closed her eyes, missing the sight of Damion going through the clouds that soon spread out, a little. The sun shone again, and the storm was gone.

-------------

"Guys! The storm!" Tails pointed out, "It's done, they stopped it!"

They got out of the Charger and ran out to see, and seen that the storm subsided. And the sun started to burst through the clouds, along with the view of Eggman's ship that still hovered above them. Charmy and Tails cheered with happiness, while Carmen, Alexis, and Vector stood side by side looking at the city.

"Thank god the storm's gone." Carmen said smiling.

"Yeah, now things will turn out a bit more easier." Vector nodded.

"Yeah, definitely." Alexis agreed.

A roar bellowed through the city, and Charmy and Tails scampered towards back into the Charger, and shut the doors quickly. All three watched them, and then heard the same sound repeat itself, and spun around, they weren't finished yet.

_I did what I thought was right, and that was to let Damion die, but not without letting the storm subsiding, I knew it had to be done…_

_I also felt Sonic was a bit too vicious for the thought of killing Eggman, I'll let Eggman have only one more second chance, otherwise, he's dead for sure…_

_We now have a chance, but was it enough to still take on Knuckles, Shadow, Chaos, and who I mostly feared for mutation and great power, Espio._


	17. The Bloodline and the Blood Lust

**Chapter 17:**

**The Bloodline and Blood Lust**

It came to Misty that they weren't done, and she quickly glanced back at Sonic and Rouge. "We have to go." Misty said while shifting to her fox form.

Sonic ran towards her and hopped onto her back, followed by Rouge, and Misty leaped off the edge and dove straight down, head first, and quickly gaining speed. They flew through the clouds feeling the breeze increase strength, and enjoyed it a bit. That quickly changed, when the clouds were gone, they were headed straight into Chaos' jaws, which quickly opened at the sight of their appearance. All three panicked and cried out in instant fear, and Misty quickly changed course, and headed back up. Sonic mutated and helped Misty, Rouge also helped the two and flew up. Sonic then quickly mutated to normal and hung onto her fur tightly, Rouge followed him, and just inches below, Chaos' mouth closed shut. Misty glanced down, and seen Chaos' snout was just a foot away.

"Oh my god!" Misty cried out, "That was pure luck."

"We've got company!" Rouge pointed out.

Sonic and Misty turned towards Rouge's direction, and seen Knuckles in his mutant state flying straight towards them. Misty then glances in front of her and seen Shadow appear. Misty sat for a moment, and then shrugged a little.

"Hang on guys, we're goin' down!" Misty said.

"What?" the two asked her.

Misty dove quickly near Chaos' surface, and kept a fairly good distance between her and the surface. She dove straight down where she once was, and Knuckles and Shadow tailed her not far. Misty then began acting a bit idiotic and started to taunt.

"Nah nah nenah nah! You can't catch me!" Misty taunted, "Neener neener neene."

"Stay on course Misty!" Sonic tugged at her.

Misty then stopped, and continued downwards, feeling a cooler breeze beneath her, the surface of Chaos cooled her off almost instantly, and almost made her want to freeze. Misty found herself about half ways to the water itself, and kept heading downwards at a slight angle, with Shadow and Knuckles still trailing behind them, but was slowly loosing them. Misty out of curiosity, looked towards Chaos' surface, and quickly using her mind, she slowed down her speed, going in slow motion, and spotted Espio, sitting in the center of Chaos, face turned away. Misty continue to stare at him, until she would be willing to turn away, she then noticed the Master Emerald and Chaos Emerald below him, heavily guarded by small shields. Misty faced back up at Espio, and stared a bit more, then Espio's head turned, and faced Misty with demented eyes staring back with an evil sensation. Misty instantly freaked, and made her speed normal, and dove straight down again, passing by the Emeralds and Espio.

Sonic gripped tight to Misty's fur, and kept low, "Hey! How do we know where we're at?"

"That'll be answered when I loose these guys." Misty said, turning her head slightly.

"Well I don't see why we haven't changed course yet." Rouge said, "Cause I think right now would be a-"

Water immediately spurted from behind them, and Misty lost control of her flight down, and was swept away from Chaos' surface area, and nearly into a highway road that crashed nearby. Misty quickly regained control and flew downwards again, then glided over the water below her. Sonic sighed in relief, and so did Rouge, both were relieved that they were saved in the nick of time.

"Hey Sonic." Misty said, "You and Rouge can probably hop off now, I don't see Shadow nor Knux around."

Both nodded, and both hopped off. Rouge opened up her wings, and started to follow Misty again, and Sonic mutated, and followed not far behind. All glided near the water, and kept their speed for a long time, searching for the gang that hopefully was still around.

-------------

"Where are they?" Vector started to wonder, "They've been gone long enough."

"Cool down." Alexis told him, "It takes time, so don't be impatient, although I am too starting to get worried."

"Yeah, hopefully Rouge and Sonic are still alive." Tails prayed.

"No kidding." Carmen said.

Charmy sat at the edge of the building ahead of the group, glancing down at the water that was still below him. Waves slowly strolled by calmly, making verily any sound, and was barely letting a reflection of Charmy up to him. Charmy kept his mind on Espio, for yet to him, Espio was a dear friend, no matter what, even if it meant he wouldn't come back normal again, he always lied in Charmy's heart, where it was slowly dying in heartbreak. He let down a tear, which slid down his cheek quickly, and then dropped to the water, he closed his eyes and wiped his tears, and as he was just doing so, a familiar voice cried down below him.

"Aww, don't tell me it's raining again Charmy."

Charmy opened his eyes and glanced down, and lastly seen three figures coming up straight at him, two white, and another darkish blue. Charmy's first action was to freak, and he fell backwards as the three figures flew just under his feet. The group heard Charmy's cry, and turned around to see what was wrong, then seen Misty, Rouge, and Sonic drop down right in front of them. Sonic and Misty shifted to their normal forms, and Misty smiled largely.

"Notice anything?" She grinned.

"Misty! Sonic! Rouge!" they all cried out and started towards them with happiness.

Misty quickly remembered Charmy, and turned to go see him, while the others hugged Sonic and Rouge. Misty got over to Charmy and looked down on him as his face was glancing up at her.

Misty smiled, "Come on now, we're okay. Are you?"

Charmy sat up and faced Misty, his face was still covered with his own tears, and he shook his head, "No, not until Espio comes back."

Misty tugged Charmy towards her, and he clutched her around her neck, and started to bawl, "I want Espio back! Please! Get him back!" He sniffed a little, "He's practically my older brother! Please! Please just get him back!"

Misty felt her throat start to ache, she had the same feeling as Charmy did, and hugged him tightly, "I promise you, Sonic and I will, with our hearts bonded, we will fight to get him back." Misty then remembered what she seen earlier, Espio, inside of Chaos' body, uncontrollable and evil looking, and she felt her heart sank, with Chaos nearly eating the three alive, all she could think of was there maybe a very slim chance of saving him. She couldn't help herself, and tears started to pour from her face, she sniffed a little, and held Charmy tight. Though originally she didn't care for kids, the innocent and need hearts was her biggest weakness, she wouldn't leave an innocent soul behind in tears and fears, and Charmy was partly an example of that. Charmy continued to bawl, and so did she, but as silently as she could. She fell to her knees, and continued to hold him, her hand holing his head and around his middle, she started to try and relieve herself, trying to tell herself that she'll succeed, trying to tell herself that a soul needs saving, and it needs to be saved from a dark power.

A cry came out from behind them, "Misty! Charmy! Look out!"

Misty looked to her right side and seen a large wave coming towards them at a fast pace. Misty quickly jumped up and started to run with her life and Charmy in her arms. Charmy panicked, and held on to her tightly, burying his head into Misty's shoulder in fear. Misty looked to her side, and last seen the wave just feet from her, she then closed her eyes and jumped forward.

The wave took her and Charmy, and last heard their cry before being swept away. Alexis and Vector cried out in fret, and tried to call to them, but nothing was brought back. Water hit their ankles from the wave, and soaked the feet below them, and the wave died down, leaving extra water behind, and seen Misty and Charmy more than likely drowned.

"Guys, I think I might know who was behind that." Tails said pointing to the right.

Carmen turned instantly to the right, and her face turned white, "Oh my god, Sonic!"

Sonic turned to the right, his gold eyes flashing against the sun, he blinked a couple of times and looked again, and seen Chaos staring down at them, with it's green serpent eyes narrowing down at the group of six. Sonic looked at Chaos in fear, in shock on how more improved he looked, then glanced down in the very center. His jaw right away dropped when he found the one person that was their main problem, staring at Sonic only, Espio.

"Guys quick! Into the Charger!" Alexis directed.

They all turned and scuttled to the Charger, Sonic though only ran halfway, then stared back at Chaos, his eyes then turning to anger. _I've never thought I'd deal with you again_.

"Sonic! Let's go!" Carmen called to him.

Sonic growled a little, and started to run towards Carmen's voice, but then past the Charger. He leaped on the hood, and leaped again into the air, and in just a second, he mutated, and he flew away from Chaos. The Charger followed him, but went down the ramp they used to get up on, and redirected towards Sonic's placement, and began to follow, just before something from behind struck them nearly from behind. Everyone in the Charger started to freak out from the attack, except Alexis, who kept his eye ahead of him and on Sonic, watching where he flew.

"What do we do?" Vector said in panic.

"Just sit tight is all I'll say to you all." Alexis said while holding his foot hard on the gas pedal.

"What about Misty and Charmy?" Tails asked.

"They're either still alive somewhere or have drowned, either way, we have to leave them now." Said Alexis, who lightly, let down a tear in misery and stress.

-------------

The buildings started to fall to pieces as shots were being made; Sonic tried his hardest to dodge the traps made, and to avoid being hit, since he knew it would cost everyone their lives. It was on rare occasions he'd look back to see if Chaos was in view, but every time he looked, he wasn't around, or at least that was led to believe, and still, he was being attacked.

A few close calls were made, but that changed when he looked back one last time, and seen Knuckles and Shadow, both in mutant state, headed after him, ravage and fierce, and both bared their fangs and snarled at him. Sonic felt he had no choice, and turned around and started to think like a wild animal, which soon made his own mind make him that way. He also bared his fangs and screeched like a raptor, wanting a challenge.

-------------

"What in the world is Sonic doing?" Rouge said pointed out of the window.

Tails panicked, "Alexis! Go back!"

Just after he said that, a small building crashed just behind the Charger, which then made Tails rethink his thought.

"Tell me Tails." Alexis said, "How can we if that's there?"

Tails turned around silent, and stared down at the floor, hearing the sound of water splashing underneath, "Never mind."

"Look likes Sonic's on his own." Carmen said, "That ain't good at all."

"But what are those?" Vector asked.

"I'll say one thing and one thing only," Rouge, "It's either that is really Knuckles and Shadow as mutants, or they're somewhat connected to what Espio is."

-------------

Shadow charged at Sonic, his blazing red eyes glaring at his throat, and his face showed the craving for blood, and for a fight. Sonic swooped up and made Shadow miss, but also at the same time, let his bladed end tail cut Shadow's left shoulder wide open, and ripping out a piece of his flesh, and stuck to the blade, letting blood drip constantly. Shadow let off with a loud screech, but never affected Sonic. Shadow caught himself in air with pain striking his shoulder hard, he gripped his shoulder, feeling his own muscle nearly ripped out from his shoulder, and could actually feel his own bones underneath. He then glared up at Sonic and snarled at him for making the wound.

Sonic snickered a little, but then caught the sight of Knuckles in the corner of his eye. He turned to face him, but found the same strange serpent like creatures that Espio had come at his in a group of six, their jaws wide open, waiting to cling onto something that they struck. Sonic dodged the first four, got bitten on the hip by the fifth, then bit the sixth that nearly struck his head around near the head of it. Blood squirted out, and another screech came out, the serpents then shrunk back to Knuckles own body, and then became Knuckles' own skin again. Knuckles glowered at Sonic and charged at Sonic, Sonic tried the same strategy, and swooped up, but left his tail near Knuckles face, unfortunately, it was too soon. Knuckles spotted his tail just n time to react, and bit Sonic's tail, just above the blade. Sonic screeched and dove down and attacked Knuckles from behind with his own tail in Knuckles' mouth. He clung to Knuckles wings, and bit his shoulder, filling his moth with the mutant's blood, and changing Sonic's mind drastically, and he clung on tighter, piercing through Knuckles rough skin.

Shadow attacked Sonic again, this time, all three clung onto one another, and all fought in air to break free or to stay attached for the blood and to weaken. Sonic ignored Shadow's claws that dug into his back, and started to fall into the crave for more blood, his eyes then changed color to a blazing red, his mind was then completely lost, and his mutant side took over, and tried his every move to kill Knuckles. They three then started to plummet towards the water below them. Shadow noticed the water and flew off of Sonic's back and stayed airborne, watching the two fell. Knuckles then turned to his normal state, and released Sonic's tail, but Sonic didn't change, and he kept his clutch on Knuckles, loving the blood.

His heart raced with the taste of blood running through, and his desire for more kept growing. He sucked on Knuckles shoulder until they hit water, then blood scattered all over in the water, leaving a red dye in it, and no sign of them popping up was to be seen. Shadow found a resting spot near the blood pool, and rested, still aching from the wound Sonic gave him. He shifted to his normal state, and sat his hand on his shoulder still in pain, burning like fire chewing through. He then sat cross-legged, and waited.

Underwater still, Sonic and Knuckles sat without movement for a while, but soon, Sonic noticed that Knuckles blood began to stop, and his craving started to grow even stronger. He tried to hold his breath just a little longer, he adored the taste, he didn't want to break from it, even though Knuckles blood had stopped going into Sonic's mouth. He then broke away from Knuckles and watched him float to the surface, and then he flew up out of the water. He took a good scavenge around, and noticed Shadow, still wounded. He snarled and dove down at Shadow, his eyes feasting on him, and not even looking around for any other danger.

Shadow noticed Sonic coming at him, and mutated again, then also charged at him again, ignoring his wound, he struck the side of Sonic's face as he flew into him. Sonic struck back and clawed Shadow's stomach and bit his arm at the same instant. Sonic's craving then rose again, and he kept his mouth on Shadow's arm. Shadow didn't cry out, but bit Sonic back on the neck, and tried to drain him before Sonic drained him. It was no good, Sonic then released Shadow's arm, and bit his neck, and tore off another chunk of Shadow's flesh from the body. Shadow had to release this time, the pain was so strong, and he lost his flying control and started to fall. Sonic, being smarter, he snagged Shadow from falling into the water, and flew him to where Shadow rested. Once and again, Sonic bit into Shadow, and started to drain him. He kept his body over Shadow's and held his strongest arm down, while the other pierced Shadow's skin near Sonic's feasting spot on him, and continue to drain him. Shadow screeched in pain, and tried to fight back, but no good came, and slowly, he lost his vision, and blacked out, nothing left to be remembered.

-------------

Quazaireon sprinted across buildings he touched, and leaped from one to another, looking for Shadow and Knuckles, and still no sign, only water and damaged buildings. He stopped on a corner and glanced around, hearing the sound of water and on come occasions, hear Chaos' cry not far from where he stood, but seen nothing he would know in particular, until he looked down.

He spotted Sonic, in his mutant state, over Shadow's body, and also seeing Knuckles body still floating on the water's surface, he was stunned to see Sonic take both of them on and nearly kill both, for Sonic was still feeding. He leaped down and started to run down the side of the building at a high rate of speed, keeping his dark eyes on at Sonic.

Sonic noticed Quazaireon, and released Shadow's shoulder, hearing a thump sound come from Shadow's body landing on the ground, and he snarled at Quazaireon while blood dripped from his mouth and fangs, and his red eyes pin-pointing Quazaireon, ready to attack. Quazaireon then just noticed Sonic's eye color has changed from gold to blood red, this to him meant he wasn't what he once was, and was also bad news.

_What the?_ Quazaireon thought, _His eyes, they're red. Is this an after effect after feeding on blood from Shadow and Knux? Well, he's gonna have to go._

Quazaireon jumped and landed on his feet and glared at Sonic, standing his ground, "Alright Sonic, I don't know what happened, but your getting out of my sight." Quazaireon then jumped in air and hit the side of the building with his feet, and sprung towards Sonic with his paws out front, glowing with purple smoke signifying an attack. Sonic hissed a little and flew out of the way, and Quazaireon printed the ground, purple smoke rising a little and disappearing. Quazaireon turned his head and found Sonic disappeared to another destination, Quazaireon still though couldn't believe why Sonic's eyes changed color, and why he acted not as himself.

Shadow coughed near him, and choked up blood, Quazaireon ran over and pushed Shadow to his side, "What happened? What in hell's name happened to Sonic's mind?"

He coughed again, "I don't know," He coughed up a bit more lightly, and sat up, "One moment, he was fighting like he would originally fight, the next, he started to try and kill us both by draining our blood."

Quazaireon then glanced down at Knuckles, "Well, is Knux still alive?"

"Don't know, but he drained him nearly cold."

Quazaireon nodded, and ran down towards Knuckles, and at the same time, he tattooed Shadow's hand, and Shadow slowly began to heal.

-------------

They finally came to a stop near another building, they sat on a damaged highway road that rose and dipped back into the water. They all got out and looked out from where they came for three things, Sonic, Chaos, and the other two, Misty and Charmy. At that point, nothing appeared, and they were safe.

Carmen sat on the Charger's hood and watched the group stare out, "More than likely Sonic will return."

"Yeah, but with Knuckles and Shadow fighting him?" Rouge questioned Carmen, "Do you believe Sonic could take on two mutants at once? Above water?"

"Honestly, I know he can." Carmen nodded.

"Just don't count your chickens before they hatch though." Alexis reminded, "The last thing we need is Sonic becoming one of them."

They all nodded, then stared out where they came from, wondering if anything good would come, but Carmen continued to sit on the hood, and stare at the ground, cracks scattered all over the pavement, and verily any lines shown after being so worn down. She then heard flapping noise, and quickly turned her head, and looked around, nothing. She kept her head high, and didn't even think about lowering her head until she seen what made the noise.

"Carmen, are you okay?" Alexis asked her.

"There's something around here." Carmen said to herself.

The group stared at her for a moment, then turned the other direction, ignoring her. A loud metal clang sound them busted from behind, and some squeaking noise was made afterwards, then Carmen's voice.

"Sonic! What the hell are you doing?" She cried out.

All of them spun around and found Carmen lying on the asphalt with Sonic on top of her knees snapping at her menacingly. Carmen tried with her might to protect herself, and held his chest and his left shoulder away from her, doing some good, while her knees kept Sonic from pinning her down fully. The group ran to Carmen and Sonic and wondered why Sonic was actually attacking her with rage, they tied calling Sonic's name, but it didn't work, then Alexis tried to save her.

"Sonic! Get off of her!" He growled at him.

Sonic glanced over his shoulder, then swiftly bit Alexis's hand with great intensity, Alexis quickly jerked his hand back, hearing his glove tear open, and blood spurted out with it. Alexis then backed off grabbing his wounded hand tightly.

"What the fuck? He bit me!" Alexis complained.

"Let me take care of him." Rouge said running after the two.

Rouge took flight just only a few feet and reared up to kick Sonic, she then swung her leg around for a sidekick. Sonic quickly noticed, and he bit Rouge's shoe just before it made a full round, but he didn't actually bite Rouges foot yet. Rouge then didn't know what to do, but to panic a little. Sonic glared at Rouge for a moment, then swung his partly mutated tail around and smacked Rouge across the stomach, the end of the tail partly ripping through her suit with the blade. Sonic then quickly released her foot as she went flying away from him. Rouge slid across the pavement, and lied there for a moment, stunned at the reaction that was made towards her.

"What has gone wrong with him?" Rouge said sitting up and holding her stomach.

"Looks like his mind was somehow taken over." Charmy said while idling by Vector.

Vector nodded, "But how is the," Vector then paused and looked over at Charmy, then realizing he was safe, "Charmy? You're here!"

Carmen tried to hold onto Sonic a little but longer, but then started to loose her strength against him, and slowly Sonic moseyed over near Carmen's shoulder, ready to bite, and Carmen started to scream in fear, trying with all of her might to push him off, but her clung to the ground and kept her in the position they lied at. Carmen's knees gave way, and now he lied on the ground flat on her back, and Sonic's knees now conquered Carmen's position. Carmen cried out for help, but no one reacted, and she closed her eyes and felt her soul trying to burst through her skin.

She then instantly felt relief come quickly to her, and she was free from Sonic's grasp, and he was gone, from her sight. Carmen sat up and glanced over to her left, and then seen Sonic on the asphalt road with Misty on him, choking him. Carmen fell into shock, seeing Misty was still alive.

Tails started to freak out and panic, staring at Misty as she strangled Sonic, to Tails, she was trying to kill him, and tried with his might to get her to stop.

"Misty! Stop it! You'll kill him!" Tails tugged at her.

Misty's hands were full, so she used her feet and kicked Tails away, then glanced over, "That's the point, just stay away and watch!"

"No! You'll kill him!" Tails cried out.

Sonic rolled Misty over and pinned Misty on the ground, and he hissed at her with his red eyes matching hers. Misty kept her grip around Sonic's throat and forced her thumbs into his throat. Sonic then slowly started to loosen up, and he started to stop putting much force on her. Misty rolled him over, and kneed his stomach harshly, making him loose more air, and letting his life drain slowly. Sonic's eyes started to show his life was leaving him, and his eyes instantly turned to the normal gold color just before his eyes closed. Misty then stood up on he feet, and released Sonic, watching his life bounce right back into his body. Tails stared at Misty in shock, then realized she was still alive, and kept staring at her.

Sonic sat up and coughed harshly, and also coughed up blood from his mouth, gurgling sounds being made as each cough was being made. Vector put his hand in front of Charmy's eyes to restrict him from seeing Sonic cough up so much blood. Misty stood behind him and held him up as he kept coughing, blood scattered all over near Sonic, his stomach drenched, and his mouth pouring out more blood. Finally Sonic stopped coughing, but kept bleeding from the mouth for a few seconds, then it stopped dripping.

"Sonic? Are you okay?" Tails asked worriedly.

"What has gone wrong with you?" Rouge questioned with concern.

Sonic shook his head a little, and looked up at the others, "What happened, and why am I covered in blood?"

Vector sighed, "You were just attacking Carmen."

"I was?" Sonic stared up.

"Yes, and if it wasn't for Misty rolling along, I've would've been dead." Carmen then paused, and then turned to Misty, "Where in hell did you come from anyhow? We thought you and Charmy drowned."

"Well, pure luck is all I'll say." Misty said, "After being taken, we ended up by the TTFAM building, then I shifted to my fox form and took Charmy with me to find you guys. I could've sworn I was near Sonic before we nearly ran into Quazaireon. But otherwise well, we're okay."

"Thank god you came just in time," Alexis said, still holding his hand, "Otherwise if Sonic killed Carmen, I'd probably be next, even though he did already bite me."

"I did?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, look for yourself." Alexis then tugged off his glove, his hand was covered in blood and his skin barely showed underneath it all. His glove was soaked, and Alexis gave Sonic a small glare at him. Sonic stared at the hand, he couldn't believe he harmed Alexis, and nearly harmed the others, he then turned to Rouge and seen her barely standing up.

"And your tail Sonic nearly cut me in half." Rouge said still holding her stomach, "I thought I was dead for a moment until I opened my eyes."

Sonic sat silent, his face blank as ever, surprised knowing that he almost killed his friends for blood. Sonic stood up and wiped himself off, smudging blood all over him, making him even worse. Misty grabbed Sonic's wrist and made him stop, then waved her hand over his face, and just a few seconds later, the blood disappeared and Sonic was cleaned up.

Carmen smiled, "Well, at least we know you're okay."

"Thank god for the Shift Emerald." Misty laughed.

The group laughed with her, and Sonic smiled with happiness. The happiness then collapsed when the roar of Chaos filled the air loudly. Everyone spun around left and right looking for Chaos, but wasn't in sight anywhere. Misty stood with a calm mind, and shook her head, "Guys, don't even bother." They turned to her, "If we can't see Chaos, he can't see us, right?"

"Make sense." Alexis nodded.

"But what's that?" Rouge pointed out in the sky.

They all looked up to find a creature in the sky headed towards them. Sonic looked closely, and seen there were two figures on the back of it. He waited for a few moments, and the two figures turned out to be Marie and Hikarari, on what was shown to them a Hedgoridon. Sonic then lit up in astonishment.

"Hey! It's Marie and Hikarari!" Sonic shouted to the group.

Some of them called out to the two girls, and the other half waved their arms for them to see. They arrived and landed onto the cement, and Marie and Hikarari scrambled to them, while the Hedgoridon flew away by command from Hikarari.

"Yo Marie, what's up?" Misty greeted.

"We figured out how you guys can save Espio." Marie said smiling.

Vector's mouth dropped, "You have?"

"Sure have." Hikarari smiled, "Just listen up, and check this out."

Hikarari then pulled out the same amulet that they got from Espio, "This for some reason carried a special message inside." She then gave it to Misty, Misty touched the center jewel on the amulet, and it revealed a frozen picture of a chameleon that looked much older than Espio. The group gathered around, and watched as Misty pressed the necklace's centerpiece again, which activated the picture into a video. The older chameleon was a dark blue with light yellow markings on it; they listened closely, and watched the video that was displayed big enough for the group to see.

"I want to say one thing and one thing only." The chameleon started, "If anyone gets this message after Chaos has been summoned, they have a slim chance of saving the one who summoned, for yet, the one maybe will have no chance of any return.

"Many years ago, the Master Emerald was legend to be created by a Echidna tribe, but that was proven false. The creator was actually part of a Kiroshioneze tribe that lasted longer than any tribe existed, for the creator was the last of his kind to live after the third war. After creating the Master Emerald, and after his sons have created a new Chaos, one of those sons made sure that if anything was to happen, that whoever summoned Chaos, may live, and put Chaos back to the Master Emerald, unfortunately, for the Kiroshioneze of the Dark then found out about this, and have planned this attack for many years.

"The son made sure that whoever summoned Chaos, was one of the pure of heart, and was the one of the blood relatives from himself, for he foreseen that this was only going to happen once. This was also a blockage from the Dark summoning Chaos, but there was still an access way to get to the summoning process. The Dark never knew what it was, but I believe it was discovered about fifty years ago; the only problem to them was they needed to find the blood relative.

"But during the time back then, the chain for pure blood was mixed in, with another blood, which represented a special but cursed tribe, no one knows this tribe, except the female that blended her blood with his, since it was legend to be kept during the nights, and only themselves of that tribe knew. The blood then was sent down, and it still lives within the chameleon blood, this blood from what I've heard was something dealing with a legendary curse that had lived with the tribe for many years, that was why it was such a secret tribe that only traveled at night.

"As one of the blood relatives of that son, and only a few ancestors after the mixer of blood and curse, I know one thing about the one who summoned him, I fear something dreadful will occur at the age of sixteen, for the curse will break out into rage, and the terrible could happen. And I fear that he may have yet already seen his fate if saved.

"No matter, if this one that summoned Chaos has been taken over by the Dark, his soul leaves the body, kicked in replacement of a dark force, and yet keeps fighting the soul out no matter what. The main thing is to concentrate on the fact that whatever you do to Chaos, will affect the one who summoned him, but Chaos still acts like a shield, and during the many years, no strategy has been discovered.

"The main thing is though, is to not stop attacking Chaos until you see that he's weak enough to absolutely destroy, though it may sound impossible, it isn't and I still believe in that. And when I say that, he must be completely eliminated from life, otherwise the Dark will try again, and may have something else in store. Just whatever you do, no matter what happens, Chaos must be destroyed, and if the blood relative has to go, let him go, it needs to be done, even if it means he could be the last of our bloodlines."

The picture then faded, and the amulet disappeared from Misty's hands, no longer in their sight.

"Sounds like we're in for a surprise with Espio." Rouge said.

"Mixed blood? What does that mean?" Charmy turned to Marie and Hikarari.

"When one species blood mixes with another species blood." Marie said.

"Doesn't that kinda sound familiar somehow?" Hikarari commented.

"No time, we need to find out how to destroy Chaos for the last time, for Espio's life lies in our hands." Sonic stated.

"Just remember people," Alexis mentioned, "If we do happen to bring Espio back, that we need to watch him closely, like the chameleon said, he may has seen his fate already, and we didn't even realize it."

_The experience, which we nearly dove into Chaos' throat, was a frightening experience; I actually thought we were actually going to bullet into the center with no trouble for a moment. But after seen Espio up close like that, I knew exactly we were in for it…_

_What I was curious about was how did Sonic run out of control and nearly kill Carmen? I gave him the form, but him acting like a vampire was out of whack on my case, I have never seen anything like that happen in my life…_

_The last thing I'll say is I agreed with Hikarari, what the older chameleon said sounded like it was something we both knew, but what? I've left that to be, but yet kept it in mind as we then started to figure out a plan to save Espio. Charmy begged for his life to be saved, and that promise was kept, I also want Espio to be brought back, his life is in our hands now…_


	18. What Comes Around, Goes Around

**Chapter 18: **

**What Comes Around, Goes Around**

They pondered for a long time, still hearing the roar of Chaos loudly, and sounding extremely close by, they knew Chaos was close, and knew to try and stay out of sight. All either sat, passed back and forth, or stood around trying to think of a plan to destroy Chaos, like Sonic said, Espio's life was in their hands, and they needed to do something quick before anything else goes further.

Tails then stood up, "I've got it!"

All their heads turned to him in curiosity, and waited for an answer.

Tails then started off, "Remember what that chameleon said?"

"What?" Carmen asked him.

"Whatever affects Chaos, affects the one who summoned him." Marie said while hopping off the Charger's hood, "Do you know what that means?"

"Yeah, but where are you guys!" the intercom spoke out with the sound of Conore's voice.

Misty jumped a little in shock, then dove into the Charger's driver window to grab the intercom, and replied back with her feet hanging out of the window, "Yo Consey, we're like out of sight wherever you are, but I will say that we ain't far from Chaos' placement, if it ain't moving."

"Is everyone alright?" Conore asked.

"Yep, where are you at?"

"Just above the TTFAM building. I see you ain't there though."

"We'll be right there, and we'll lead ya to where we're at. Sound okay?"

Alexis grabbed Misty's ankles instantly, then dragged her out, making her nearly fall flat face, then he snatched the intercom from her hand and replied back to Conore, "Actually, how about we meet you somewhere. You know where the Train Station is?"

"Yeah, meet at the tallest building behind it?" Conore asked.

"Yes Conore and we have to go. Alexis out." Alexis then hung up.

Misty stood up and looked at Alexis, "I wasn't done."

Alexis then gave out a small glare, "Do you see what we're standing in?"

Everyone looked down, and found their feet were underwater, and the water was rising quickly, and plus the road they were standing on started to shake a little.

"It's going to collapse!" Vector shouted.

Marie whistled, and the same creature her and Hikarari rode returned, and took off, no one even bothered to ask, since they knew where they were going. Alexis, Carmen, Vector, Charmy, and Tails jumped into the Charger, and went to a float mode, and took off. Misty, Sonic and Rouge on the other hand took off into air, Misty leading while now in her fox form again with wings, followed by Sonic, in his mutant state, and then followed by Rouge.

They all proceeded with caution, but it didn't last long, for the Charger was nearly by a wave just ahead of them. Alexis then sped up and went around the wave, and also caught Chaos in his sight.

"Well, now he sees us, so lets boogie!" Alexis said while stepping on the gas hard.

The rest in the Charger sighed, "Not agaaain!"

Misty also noticed Chaos, but also Knuckles and Shadow came into view, in one piece and in their mutant state. The three split and the two went right through, and lost a little bit of control of their flight. Misty then quickly looked at Sonic and Rouge, "Either we live or die, which will it be?"

"What else? Live!" Rouge said.

Misty was about to speak to Sonic when she noticed he was gone from her sight, she spun around, and seen Sonic attack Shadow, scaring his face and biting his side, then clinched onto Shadow, and kept himself secure onto his body. Sonic had no intention of letting go, for he was again starting to love the taste of blood again, and lost focus of what he was doing.

Rouge stared for a moment, then spun around to get a swift enough look at Knuckles placement, which was just feet from her. She swung her leg around, and kicked Knuckles in the lower jaw, making him fly nearly into another building. She watched him fly, and seen his wings spread right back open wide, but then her sight blacked out, and she felt what felt like water hit her by the head, but more like a whip.

Misty was just trying to help Sonic when she heard Rouge's cry of pain, she then spun around again, and seen Chaos was right behind them, staring down at them even more improved than the last time they seen Chaos. Misty didn't even dare to look more towards the center, she knew exactly what was there, but had to dive down to get Rouge. She did so, and dove fast, water tentacles flew out at her, and kept missing her by just inches near, and kept missing. Misty kept her eyes on Rouge, and tried her hardest to keep on course without being hit, as sweat ran down her face, she lowered herself even closer to Chaos' surface, and kept diving. Misty finally caught up to Rouge, and Rouge quickly gabbed a hold of one of Misty's forelegs, and pulled herself up just before another water tentacle flew out just underneath her. Misty then took off upwards, and Rouge pulled herself onto Misty's back and hung on tightly.

"I guess we'll be a bit late." Rouge commented.

"For a good reason too." Misty said, "Do you see Sonic?"

Rouge glanced around, and then shook her head, "No, I don't see him anywhere."

"This sucks." Misty said with some irritation, " Could've sworn I've-"

Misty was then tackled, and she quickly lost control of her flight, she automatically shifted to her normal form, and started to fall. She heard a screeching noise just behind her, and looked to see what it was, and seen Sonic with his eyes red again, and attacking Rouge, who tried to fight him off. Misty quickly reacted and shifted into a random form, one that she never knew she had, that form was Espio's mutant form. Her eyes opened, and pin pointed Sonic's body, and attacked Sonic back, plunging claws into him, and biting into him fiercely on his side.

The worst then began. Sonic screeched loudly and released Rouge, and started to fight back, putting his fangs into Misty's skin, and tore a large chunk out of her arm that grasped his shoulder. Misty without realizing it, like Espio would do in his mutant form, then sent out the snake like creatures at him from her body, and all six of those creatures snagged Sonic in different areas of his upper body. Misty then bit Sonic back again, and not only tore a chunk of his flesh, but also crushed a bone she bit. Sonic cried out with another screech, and pulled his and Misty's body downward, missing another tentacle that flew at them. Misty couldn't help but let go, and flew backwards, getting some relief from Sonic. Sonic did the same, then stared at Misty and snarled at her with blood dripping from his mouth.

Rouge sat on a pole sticking out, and watched Misty as Espio's mutant form, and Sonic in his mutant form fight one another, while holding her arm tightly from one of Sonic's slash marks he made. She noticed a small movement to the right, and glanced over, and found Knuckles and Shadow in normal state, also watching the fight, and had no intention of shifting or attacking. Rouge looked around for a bit, then seen Chaos again. Another water tentacle shot at her, she quickly dove for cover, quick enough to dodge the attack. While diving downwards, she moved her head upwards to see where Chaos was, and found Espio sitting in the center of him, with the most evil look she's ever seen, but gave more of a snarling look right at her. Rouge gasped a little, and lost concentration of where she was going, and ran into some scrap metal that piled up high.

She luckily landed on a sheet of metal that was just a few inches bigger than her body, but unlucky since she landed on her head, then collapsed onto the sheet. She shook her head a little and rubbed her head, "Ouch! Why is it that my head is the first thing that gets the most damage to it?" She then looked up and seen Knuckles and Shadow were diving down towards her. They were normal for one moment, and then mutated instantly the next. Rouge swiftly flew out of the way, and made the two go into the scrap metal. She glanced back at Chaos, who was about to make a critical attack.

Misty heard Chaos roar, and clawed Sonic's face to see, and ended up looking down at Espio. Espio was glaring up at her, and while inside Chaos, acted like he roared, which made Chaos roar, then his eyes glowed pure white, and Misty lost control of her shape-shifting act, and she shifted right back to normal. Sonic eyes turned instantly back to a gold, and he also shifted to normal and followed Misty's fall towards the water below them. Rouge caught up with the two, and tried to grab Sonic, but couldn't get his grip, and then noticed he was unconscious.

Misty was about to shift to her fox form when Knuckles came from behind her and struck her across the back, tearing her shirt and skin viciously, and slowed down Misty from getting Sonic's hand. The pain was strong, and Misty couldn't help but shout in agony, for she had enough pain for one week, and the fact that the injection probably still lies within her, that made her think for a moment.

_The injection!_ She thought, _what if the injection doesn't take any affect until after a few more hours? Or even after a strike? This isn't good at all._

Rouge tried to get Sonic's grip again, and caught his hand just before they crashed into the water. Rouge held his hand tight, and swam towards to the surface. Her head rose above water, and she took a quick breath of air, and took Sonic into one of her arms, and she swam towards to a ledge with the other. She reached the ledge, and pushed Sonic on top, and pulled herself afterwards, then glanced up to see Misty fighting off Knuckles.

"What the hell is wrong with me man!" Misty complained, "Why can't I shape-shift?"

She tried again, and shifted to her fox form, then she strangely shifted to her normal form again, and then took another strike from Knuckles across the stomach. She cried out, and started to fall again. She fell against Chaos' surface, and started to slide down, water, drenching her, and cleaning her wounds and bloodstains as she bounced a few times. She tried one last time, and shifted to her fox form again, and flew quickly off of Chaos' surface, and dove into the water, and she was then here hedgehog form again without realizing it.

She struggled to keep herself underwater, and hoped she wasn't to be seen, she glanced around and she in surprise spotted Espio, just floating in the water right in front of her. She stared at him, wondering what to do. Espio's face looked the same, but what used to be a grim stare turned into an evil smile and revealed fangs, large fangs. Misty's pupils shrunk, and she quickly started to swim to the surface, her chance quickly died, for Espio caught her from behind. He clung around the chest area, and bit into her harshly, for he punctured the one vein she didn't want punctured, and blood poured out of her system rapidly, tainting the water bloody red. Her eyesight was quickly gone, and she felt Espio's grip go to her waist, and his tail griping her right leg, and she slowly started to drift from her mind.

Espio continued to stay on her, and kept his grip tight, and didn't take the chance of letting go, until is head was hit. He lost his grip, and released Misty, who slowly started to drift to the surface, and his lust grew larger. He looked at what was ahead of him, nothing, but Misty's body, which was quickly caught by a large blue object, which then disappeared from his sight.

"What the." Rouge asked herself as she glanced up at Chaos' face.

Chaos roared loudly, as its voice echoed through the city. Out of nowhere then some rockets flew into Chaos, and exploded when they hit the surface. Chaos then roared again, and started to search for the attacker. Rouge did the same, and then heard what sounded like the Charger, which pulled behind Rouge. Inside the muscle car was Alexis only, who stared at her for a moment to spare.

"Get in Rouge!" He commanded her, "Where's Sonic and Misty?"

Rouge was about to answer until Sonic dropped beside her, with Misty in his arms, "Here we are. Let's go!"

"Then get in and let's get out of this mess." Alexis said waving his arm in.

Rouge quickly got into the passenger seat, and Sonic jumped into the back seat with Misty, and shut the door behind him. The Charger then dragged a little, then took off, and drove on top of the water's surface, away from Chaos.

"Woohoo!" A voice yelled in the intercom, "Man! I didn't know Chaos looked like this, but this makes it even more fun!"

"Conore! Don't plan anything dumb!" Alexis warned him, "Just get out of there."

"Alright, lets get to another safe point and see if we can last there longer." Conore replied, "Conore out."

Rouge turned to Alexis, "That was Conore that shot at Chaos?"

"Sadly, I never thought he had fun with that kind of stuff 'til now." Alexis sighed, "Is Misty okay?"

Sonic looked at Alexis, "She's been bitten again, and it looks like almost all of her blood has been drained from her."

"He must have bitten into the deadliest of the veins." Alexis said.

"Must of." Rouge said, "Her face is definitely pale."

"Don't worry." Alexis said, "Thank god for her recovering ability."

"How do you even know she's alive?" Sonic questioned him.

"As long as her red markings remain the same color, and not turn to a pink, she's alive." Alexis pointed out.

"That's something to look at I suppose?" Sonic questioned him.

"Just make sure they don't otherwise we're in for it." Alexis warned.

---------------------

"I'm hungry." Charmy complained.

"Stop saying that!" The group hollered at him.

"Another word Charmy, and you'll be dunked." Vector warned.

Tails was the only one that didn't say a thing, but yet then spoke, "Gesh Vector, ease up, what if Knuckles and Shadow find us? And he was the-"

"Same goes for you!" Vector said pointing a finger.

Tails stared at him with a straight face, "Means you're 21 doesn't mean I'm you're kid."

"Would you two knock it off with the crap now?" Carmen said stepping in between the two, "We need to be on the alert, otherwise the worst could happen."

Both Vector and Tails went silent, and stared at Carmen, for her fists were tight, signifying fury, but not in Marie and Hikarari's eyes, they both seen different, but never spoke up. Carmen then backed off and left the two boys staring at her, as her head was downward towards the ground. Tails sighed and walked off in one direction, and silence fell quickly nothing disturbed.

Vector turned to Charmy, and stared at him for a moment, he opened his mouth, but instead of his voice coming out, there was a loud cracking sound of pavement breaking, and Tails crying out from behind him.

"Gaaaaaaah!" Tails hollered from behind them.

Everyone spun around, and only seen something large and black diving down, and seen Tails nowhere, they ran to the side worried, and glanced down, and found Tails flying everywhere, trying to avoid the two they didn't want to see.

"Go away!" Tails cried as he kicked Shadow in the face in defense.

Marie hollered from above, "Tails, don't fight back, they'll only attack you back!"

The words came out late though, and Knuckles from behind bit Tails on the left side, Tails howled loudly, and lost his control of flying, and limped in Knuckles' jaws. Shadow returned and struck Tails on the other side with a snake creature, which quickly returned to Shadow's body as he passed by.

"Get the hell away from him!" Charmy cursed.

Vector glanced over at Charmy, and quickly became furious "Charmy! Don't use that language!"

Marie climbed on top of the edge of the building, and stood in front of Hikarari and Carmen. Looking down, she waited for the right time.

"Marie! What are you doing?" Carmen cried to her.

Marie said nothing, and leaped from the side of the building, falling down near the side. All four watched as Marie fell, which after a few second was picked up by Shadow.

Marie took out a machete she had underneath her jacket, and stabbed Shadow's backside with it. Shadow screeched deafeningly, piercing everyone's ears, and made them all cried in agony. Marie held the knife in Shadow's back, able to bear his screech with no sign of irritation, and kept it in until she was near Knuckles. She then quickly unsheathed it from Shadow's bloody back, and swung at Knuckles, missing Tails, and cutting two of Knuckles' dreadlocks off. Knuckles roared and released Tails, who plummeted weakly into the water below him. Marie then jumped and followed him.

The group above shrieked in surprise at what Marie had just did, making Charmy throw up behind their back, not able to bare the sight of so much blood rushing out. Carmen backed off and took more steps backwards, her hands over her mouth, and her eyes closed shut. Hikarari didn't care, and jumped from the side of the building, onto Knuckles' back, then took another leap into the water. The three above quickly ran to a hiding spot, and stayed there until someone returned.

-------------------

After few moments have past by, and Quazaireon leaped about looking for Shadow and Knuckles, but yet was unlucky to find them, he then ended on top of a building corner, and gazed at the flooded city, his black eyes filled with curiosity, and his thoughts randomly ran with questions.

"Why stop?" a female voice spoke behind him.

Quazaireon looked over his shoulder only to find Ramaindna behind him, walking up to him. He then glanced back at the view.

"No luck," Quazaireon said, "I can't find them anywhere."

"You know they're probably attacking the others instead of just Misty and Sonic, right?" Ramaindna said while standing next to him.

"I know. But, just knowing what could happen. But, whatever does happen, I guess we'll have to just let it happen."

"Right, but maybe I should go look for them."

"So unreliable you can be, though I do understand."

Ramaindna turned to him, "I only want to be cautious, I don't want to jump in the way and cause even more chaos, besides, I'm not sure they have it under control."

"Well, if we don't start saving energy, we won't be able to win the war."

"I don't think that'll be possible." Ramaindna said, as she turned her head back at the city.

Quazaireon glanced over at him, "Why do you say that? We have everything."

Ramaindna shook her head, "No we don't."

"Then what are we missing?"

"The one and only." Ramaindna said.

Quazaireon sighed; he then leaped off of the side of the building, and ran down it, then started off to run on water into the city again. Ramaindna stared, and fell confused of what to do, and what to expect, but not of what to remember.

----------------------

It was a while before Alexis, Sonic, Rouge, and Misty were able to find Carmen and the rest. Sonic quickly fell to sympathy when he seen Tails in pieces, who was being cared by Marie.

"Yeah, they like popped out of nowhere and started attacking me." Tails said shaking a little while wrapped up in a blanket.

"Ah, so those two were here?" Sonic said as he sipped some freshwater.

"And Marie just had to cut off two of Knuckles dreadlocks just to save him." Carmen said crossing her arms.

Sonic then spit out his water in shock, and choked. Misty then stared at Marie, "You cut off two of Knuckles' dreadlocks?"

"I also was planning on cutting his tail, but decided not to." Marie said as she finished patching up Tails.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Rouge sassed.

Marie stood and turned towards the four, "All of you I know would've done the same."

"At least they're not here." Alexis said in relief, "Besides, we need find and take care of Chaos."

Misty then poked at Alexis, "Um, Alexis, you might want to eat those words."

The group turned and looked where Misty was looking, and spotted in a distance, Chaos slowly moving near. Charmy panicked quickly and dove into the Charger.

"I'm with Charmy, we need to get out of sight!" Carmen said as she sprinted to the Charger.

Misty took a deep breath in irritation, and so did Sonic and Rouge, "Here we go again."

Again Marie and Hikarari were already gone, Misty, Sonic, and Rouge flew off, and the rest were jammed in the Charger, and followed.

"How about we just dodge the attacks and just keep flying?" Rouge suggested.

"How about we fly low and protect the others." Sonic said as he glided near the Charger. Misty and Rouge followed, and kept low nearby. Rouge kept looking around to see if ay others were around, and made sure that the area was greatly scanned as they flew by.

Up in front a ways, something dashed across, and behind it, a large purple shield quickly formed in the shape of frozen ice. Alexis slammed the brakes, and spun the Charger around 90 degrees, and hovered in a spot for a moment.

"Damn." Carmen said.

"Not just damn." Vector pointed out as he was looking out the back.

Behind the Charger, another barrier formed behind then, and trapped them in a small circle. Misty, Sonic and Rouge looked around, and found themselves surrounded.

"Help me out on breaking the barrier!" Misty said as she dashed forward, and fired a stream of blue fire at the shield, but the fire didn't do a thing.

"Ha! Break that open." A voice said behind the group.

Everyone looked to see Quazaireon behind them, on top of a tip of an ice point. A slight wind picked up and made his fur glisten with purple and black alternately.

"Ha! As if your fire will do anything while I'm around." Quazaireon laughed a little.

"Up to no good I see." Sonic said still in his mutant form and still in air.

"Up to trying and escaping everything is what I see." Quazaireon said, "It's now no good, cause now you're facing more than what you've seen."

Misty in her fox form, tapped Sonic on the shoulder, and pointed upwards. Sonic looked up, and seen Chaos staring down that them. Sonic growled a little, glaring at Chaos furiously, his gold eyes glaring at Chaos' presence. Chaos made a loud roar, and raised his head to make the sound. Misty stared at Chaos' face for a moment, then looked towards the center, where Espio was lingering, also howling, or was he?

"_The main thing is to concentrate on the fact that whatever you do to Chaos, will affect the one who summoned him, but Chaos still acts like a shield…" _She remembered.

Sonic stopped growling, and read Misty's thought, and then knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Say hello to some new friends, or should I say new mutants." Quazaireon laughed from behind.

From behind Misty and Sonic were struck, and Rouge was the only one unharmed, but seen Misty being attacked by something black, she figured it was Shadow again, but she then looked at Sonic, he was being attacked by what looked like Tails. Tails' eyes were a snake-like green, and a thin pupil, triple tailed, feathered demon wings, and was almost a brown color. Some markings lingered on him in black, and also unsheathed large claws towards Sonic.

Rouge mouth dropped, "Tails?"

She then heard Misty, "What the fuck! Alexis?!" And she glanced over at her, to see that Alexis' name also fit what was attacking Misty. Alexis had white claws, torn clothes, large black demon-like wings, a large whip-like tail, and white markings over his body.

"Alexis?!" Rouge said in shock.

---------------------

"Oh…my…god." Carmen said holding her chest in shock.

"What was wrong with them? They were bitten but that was weird." Vector said.

"Wait! Bitten?" Carmen looked out the window of the Charger, and stared at the two, "Of course! They were bitten, but how could Alexis be affected by Sonic? And why isn't Rouge the same way?"

"Maybe Rouge had to be bit to mutate." Charmy stated.

"Maybe, and probably Sonic was currently a mutant at that time, and was also out of control." Vector said staring out still.

Carmen settled, "Good lord, why him?"

------------------

"Gaaaaaaah!" Misty panicked as she tried to dodge every move Alexis used against her.

She moved to the left towards the Charger, but Alexis' wing smacked her face, and she bounced backwards down to the water. She regained flight and headed the opposite way, but lost control of her shifting again, and plummeted into the water. Alexis dove into the water, and shifted to his normal form, but acted like a ravage creature. Misty swam as fast as she could past Alexis, and up by the crystal barrier in front of her. Alexis went for her leg and snapped at it, but missed, and Misty reached the surface, and flew away.

Sonic on the other hand, had Tails to deal with, almost similar as when he was attacking Conore, but in a whole different way. Tails kept snapping at Sonic's face, and violently snarled at him, as if he was a mad dog from hell. Sonic kept his grip with Tails claw-filled hands, and finally kicked Tails into a window nearby. He sighed in relief, and flew off.

Misty and Sonic then both met with one another and took a dive towards the water at a great deal of speed. Both shifted to their normal forms and clashed into the water below them, losing Tails, who quickly tailed Sonic, and Alexis, who flew around in circles where they met with the water. Quazaireon laughed brutally in the background, and Carmen heard.

"You fuckin' bastard!" Carmen cursed while shaking her fist.

Quazaireon stopped, and glanced at Carmen, "And I thought you were yet to be torn to pieces, no matter, Alexis!"

Carmen's eyes then shrunk, and quickly struggled to pull the door shut, but the door was held open, not willing to let out a budge for Carmen to shut it. Vector came from behind her and tried with her to get it shut, Charmy sat behind and kept silent, but panicked.

Quazaireon then spoke again, "Go after them, and Tails! After Rouge!"

Rouge heard Quazaireon's command, and quickly tried to fly out of sight, and quickly Tails followed after her.

Carmen seen Alexis coming towards her, she couldn't help but let go of the door, and scream for her dear life. Vector, with a kind heart, moved his own body in front of Carmen for Alexis to get through. Alexis quickly shifted to normal, but still acted like a mutant, and demanded a fistfight with Vector, who dared him back, and quickly, both went for the fistfight above water.

----------------------

Misty and Sonic swam a little underwater, Misty cautiously looking, and Sonic followed, and then quickly realized how much he hates water, and the fact, he can't swim. Sonic panicked quickly and tried to get to the surface, but Misty pulled him back with his foot, and grabbed his neck with great force, he opened his mouth. Sonic pushed her away, and panicked more.

Misty then spoke, "Sonic, quit it, you can breathe now, the water ain't gonna kill you."

"You bitch, do you even know how much-what!" Sonic stared at her in amazement, then decided to do as she said, and breathed and relieve, which then felt like actual air passing through his lungs. He finally settled.

"Oh, hehehe." Sonic laughed hysterically, "Man, I always keep forgetting that you had powers like that."

"You're lucky I thought of this before we even had the two on our butts." Misty said crossing her arms.

"No kiddin'." Sonic nodded, then he glanced past Misty's head, and began to panic again. Waving his hands up and down frantically, he tried to speak as he panicked.

"Now what?!" Misty sighed in irritation.

"B-Behind you! Chaono-I-mean-ESPIO!" Sonic pointed frantically.

Misty's eyes flashed open in confusion and startled, spun around and found Espio in his normal state coming right at the two. She didn't panic, but she swam out of his way with Sonic as fast as she could.

Espio quickly spun around, and instead of going for Misty, he attacked Sonic, and tore a piece of Sonic's wrist off. Sonic cried out, and slapped his other hand on his wrist with frantic pain. Espio then kicked Sonic's back, and attacked Misty, but shifted to his mutant form, and tore at Misty's skin again. Sonic noticed and quickly shifted to his mutant form, and assaulted Espio in return, and ripped him off of Misty. Sonic was about to bite Espio, when he realized what happened to him the last couple of times he bit something. He changed his mind, and kicked Espio's back, who screeched, and growled at Sonic, while Sonic growled back.

"Not this time, I'm not letting you do that again to me!" Sonic growled while floating in the water.

Espio mutated to normal and smiled impiously back at Sonic, "You really think you'll win over me for her don't you?"

Sonic then stared at him, "What!? You can still talk?"

Espio chuckled evilly, "If you're really that slow minded, maybe you shouldn't even live. For you'll only part of my feasting as we win the war."

Sonic growled again, and tightened his fist, and seen Misty float behind Espio, about ready to make a attack behind him.

Espio chuckled again, "Misty, you do realize that the injection still lives within you."

Misty's stare then faded, and her mouth barely opened frightened.

"After being bit by me many times, you time has been decreased, at this very moment, you only have one hour, before the injection takes full affect, and you become my mate."

"Then why am I shifting uncontrollably?" Misty barked.

"Because you're blood for one, is in me, and second, the injection is starting to take control, for now it'll be difficult to shift to your other forms, which means, that you're near being in my hands."

--------------------

Rouge flew through or towards to every trap she seen to stop tails, but all failed, tails always was too quick, or too slow, one way or another, Rouge tried everything she could, but knew she mustn't fight head on, or else, which she knew.

Tails quickly gained speed, and snapped at Rouge's feet, scrapping the heel slightly. Rouge noticed the slight scrap quickly, and spun around, and T-boned his face with a rapid kick from the toe of her boot. Tails screeched as he lost control of his flight, and crashed into another nearby window. But he quickly flew out and attacked Rouge again. Rouge tried the same move again, but ended up getting her boot into his mouth, she shrieked, and jerked it out, and kicked him in the face, and made him collapse into the water below.

Rouge then stopped, and stared, keeping a close eye, and after many moments, Tails still hadn't shown up, so she went back to where the others were, taking caution as she passed by. She looked down at her boot, and seen the boot dyed red and dripping, she cried, and knew exactly what was going to happen next.

---------------------

"Vector!" Charmy cried out.

Vector gripped Alexis tight around the waist as he and Alexis took flight up into the air, and slowly worked his way up to get to Alexis' face. A sharp turn was made, and he slipped from the waist, and plummeted to the water below him. He then blacked out when Alexis made a sudden head butt, and knocked Vector out for a period of time. Charmy cried more, and Carmen tried her hardest to work the wires underneath the steering wheel, trying to quickly fix the doors and start up the Charger at the same time.

"Charmy, what happened?" Carmen said as she got a spark, but not for a second.

"It's Vector, he's gonna die!" Charmy cried out.

"No he's not! He's not gonna be next after the others!" Carmen said aggressively.

"But Shadow and Knuckles are here!"

Carmen stopped, and took a peak through the open door, and seen Vector getting beat to death by all three. Carmen then dove her head down, and tried harder to get the door and Charger to work again, but nothing busted, and she tried even harder.

----------------------

Misty went around and dove at Espio with full force and attacked him from behind, and in revenge after hearing his words, she bit Espio back on his arched back. Espio instantly then let out a high-pitched screech, that echoed through and even out of the water. Everyone heard it; even Vector was woken up by it. Carmen banged her head against the steering wheel while holding the wires, and she finally tricked the spark, starting up the Charger, and the door was able to work.

Carmen gasped, and got out from under the wheel, and sat in the drivers seat, calling to Vector.

"Vector! Get in while you can!"

Seeing Shadow, Knuckles, and Alexis were stunned for the moment, he quickly dove into the water, and swam to the Charger. He scuttled in, and Carmen quickly shut the doors, and the three felt safe again.

Quazaireon shook his head, getting the stunning out of his head "Damn I forgot about Espio."

Out of the water Misty, in her firefox state, and Sonic, in his mutant state, bolted upwards, and flew towards the Charger quickly, below them Espio bolted out of the water, and tackled Misty at the stomach, and mutated at the same time. Sonic went after him and attacked Espio's backside, and bit him at where a scar was left behind from being stabbed.

Espio screeched again, and released Misty, who flew away to the three others who waited for her, and slashed at Sonic's face, but missed. Sonic spun Espio around, and then bit him right on Espio's swollen stomach, and blood spurted out like a bubble of hot water, and sprayed all over Sonic's face. Espio then made a loud howling bellow, and slashed the side of Sonic's face, and flew out just outside the barrier. Sonic landed on top of the Charger, and mutated to normal, and looked up at Espio with blood dripping from his chin and mouth. Misty and the three other mutants also froze, and stared at Espio for a period of time. Quazaireon quickly leaped out of sight, and escaped to a safer place.

Again Espio roared, and water shot up around him, and quickly took form of Chaos again, which stood taller than the buildings around it. Rouge landed beside Sonic, and stared up at Chaos also, but with more surprise.

"Wow, from this point of view, Chaos looks a lot more bigger than he seems." Rouge commented.

"I know, and I see, I don't blame ya." Sonic nodded, "Let's get the others out though."

Misty seen the mutants stare up at Chaos, and bailed, flying right in front of the Charger, and made one last flame thrower, attempting to break the barrier. Carmen sat up in the seat and stepped on the gas, and both Rouge and Sonic nearly fell off from the roaring muscle car, and both kneeled back on the top and held onto the windows to their side. Misty kept pushing forward, the blue fire slowly pushing through the barrier. After about five seconds before the Charger caught up with Misty, the barrier shattered, and Misty eradicate her wings, and ran in front of the car on water, with the Charger close behind, they swiftly and closely ran past Chaos.

_That was no ordinary experience, but it has happened to me before, but only at separate times. Alexis though was someone I never expected to be the next victim by Eggman's side, to me, he's like a brother…_

_The shifting problem was a problem, and after Espio telling me why, I felt like now I'm a threat to the others, and yet I quickly fell into despair, but first, I had to get the others safe from the mutants and Espio himself. Course I also didn't know Espio could still speak too._

_I also seen the Nightstar once, but at that time, I was beginning to wonder where Conore went off with it, we need that ship bad, very bad…_

_Lastly, where are the Emeralds! We need them now; no wonder things are running badly, we don't have the emeralds!_


	19. One Ring, One Mutant Hedgehog

**Chapter 19: **

**One Ring, One Mutant Hedgehog**

Rouge quickly jumped through the window of the Charger, and sat by Charmy, she uncovered her boot and found she was bitten. Her once smooth skin was tranquilized by scars fro Tails' bite, and blood scurried everywhere. Charmy noticed the bite, and looked at Rouge with shock. Rouge didn't turn, but slipped her head next to Carmen.

"Carmen, can I see that intercom?" She asked.

Carmen gave Rouge the intercom, "What's up?"

"We'll one, I want to make a last minute request, and second, find out where Conore is."

Charmy then spoke, "So what happened to your foot?"

Vector looked at Rouge and seen her right foot all bloody, and cried out, "Rouge! You're bitten!"

Rouge glared at Vector, "I realize that, now let me help you before I actually do mutate."

Carmen looked over at Rouge and spoke with a content voice, "You better make it quick."

---------------

Up in the ship, Quazaireon walked through the halls with Ramaindna, both were silent, but cautious. Quazaireon glanced up at Ramaindna, and seen a distressed look on her face, and stopped.

"Why so disturbed?" He asked her.

She then too stopped, but kept her head low, "I'm worried."

"Worried about what?" Quazaireon said walking up to her side.

"Do you remember a few years ago, when I seen Ladina?"

"Ladina?" Quazaireon said in confusion.

" Ladina Wakison." Ramaindna refreshed his memory.

"No, but go ahead." Quazaireon nodded.

"Well, I remember her mentioning someone I knew from about ten years ago was going to renounce themselves again, but in a different way and with a different look, do you think that…"

"Ramaindna." Quazaireon stopped her, "If anything, it'd be more into the future, but right now. I highly doubt, unless you're talking about Misty, or Sonic?"

"Never mind." Ramaindna said looking up, "But I just realize something."

"What now?"

"You notice anything?"

"No, what?"

"Eggman, where is he?"

Quazaireon paused, and sat for a moment, trying to regain what happened to Eggman, "well, the last time I've seen him, was when he went into the cages to see if Both Shadow and Knuckles were out, but then that was it."

Ramaindna stared at him, then looked back at the two-way hallway ahead of her, and kept silent for a long time. Quazaireon did the same, and both stood for a long period of time, but heard nothing.

After a while, Quazaireon then spoke, "So what are we listening for?"

"I was thinking." She replied.

Quazaireon then growled, "So you were thinking all this time because…"

"Wasn't Eggman bitten by Espio?" Ramaindna turned to him.

Quazaireon laughed, "Ha! Of course he was no-wait…" He paused, then looked at Ramaindna with a frightful stare, "Oh shit…"

-----------------

Misty sat by Sonic on top of the car, as the breeze rubbed against their faces, they kept their eyes open and looking all around for anything dangerous.

"So how can we cure you?" Sonic asked Misty.

"I have not an idea in my head." Misty said, "And if I did, I wouldn't be sitting here."

"True." Sonic said.

He then seen a object in the sky just above them, he was partly standing when Misty spoke, "It's Marie, don't worry."

Sonic looked at her for a moment, then sat back down. He watched as the object came into view. It was Marie, but alone with the same creature she rode before. Sonic nodded, and kept his eyes low around the car. Marie seen Sonic, and smiled a little, "If you're looking for the others, they'll come faster then you think."

Sonic glanced to the side, where the creature and Marie flew by, "Thanks Marie."

Marie nodded, and the door beside her opened, and she jumped inside, then the creature flew away out of sight.

"Ya know Sonic, you should also be careful." Misty said to him, "You may be in the same position as I am, only it hasn't taken much effect yet."

-----------------

"So you do have a cure." Carmen said as she turned the wheel a little.

"Only for a ten minute or less infection." Marie said, "Canaras is trying to figure out a longer stage one, but so far, nothing."

"So I'm okay?" Rouge asked as Marie injected the small shot in her arm.

"Absolutely." Marie smiled.

"If only you had that around when Alexis was bitten." Carmen sighed.

"I know Carmy." Marie sighed, "It's my fault that I didn't come prepared, so blame it on me."

A loud hissing sound was made, and steps were being made above their head.

"What was that?" Charmy said while clutching on Vector, who fell asleep.

-----------------

"Over there!" Misty pointed with her fox paw.

Sonic glanced over and seen Shadow and Knuckles flying towards them. Sonic quickly shifted to a mutant, and bolted at Shadow, and started to fight with him, ripping and tearing at him. Knuckles dove for Misty, and she released blue fire to push him back and away from the car. He swung around the front, and made a wide turn, and went for Sonic. Sonic quickly slashed Shadow's face and dove near the water, just missing Knuckles by a second, and began to start a chase with Shadow and Knuckles both on his tail.

Misty watched as the three went by, and again, she jumped on to the water and sprinted in front of the car's front end. She kept her speed a little above the car's speed and galloped freely on the water's surface. Ahead an object bolted out and was coming right towards her while running on the water, at first she didn't know what it was. Just after a few seconds went by, she found it was Alexis running at her. She shrieked, and Alexis was just feet away when he mutated, Misty formed wings, and made another flamethrower at Alexis, which accelerated the two upwards above the Charger that raced by. It was then yet again; Misty fought with Alexis, and tried to loose him.

-----------------

"Oh my god!" Carmen shrieked, "I felt something hit the hood. Did I hit Misty?"

"I hope not." Rouge said."

"I hope not either." Marie said as she jumped in front with Carmen, "Course with the fire, no one could tell."

"What happened to them?" Charmy cried.

"They probably went upwards." Rouge thought.

"Well then if they headed upwards, then what's that?" Charmy pointed ahead of them.

Another object came into view, and quickly Marie knew what it was after seeing it had wings, "Tails!"

Carmen swerved the wheel to the right, and the Charger went at a ninety-degree angle, and slid, Carmen then lost control, and they started spinning. Charmy panicked and gripped Rouge's middle, while Vector was still sound asleep, everyone else cried out and hung on to whatever they found stable. The Charger then bounced the other direction, and every window but the rear and the windshield broke, and everyone jerked and hit their doors hard. Quickly the Charger died, and it luckily landed on top of a raised platform.

-----------------

Sonic dodged to the left, and to the right, and the snake-like creatures snapped at his sides and feet in either black or red. Sonic descended, and then ascended, he was all over in the air; trying to dodge every move Shadow and Knuckles threw at him. Finally, Shadow caught Sonic's tail, and tugged him backwards. And climbed on Sonic, and forced him into a pile of broken glass, that shredded them both, but Sonic mostly. Sonic screeched, and tried to buck Shadow off, but couldn't, finally Sonic slid on a rooftop, and stopped, his face scared from the glass. Shadow leaped and stood behind Sonic a few feet, and kept in his mutant form. Sonic slowly got up, glass chunks everywhere on his arms, partly his face, and his stomach, that was almost pure muscle, and barely any skin left on it.

Shadow laughed from behind, "Didn't see that coming did ya Sonic?"

Sonic finally stood, still in his mutant state, and glared back at Shadow, "If you were originally Eggman, I'd kill you right this instant."

Knuckles flew in from behind Shadow, and stared at the two, with two of his dreadlocks barely bleeding still after Marie's attack. Shadow laughed again and started walking towards Sonic, "You've attacked me many times, and you nearly became one of use, but means that that keeps failing, we'll just do it ourselves."

"Sonic! Duck!" A voice called out to him.

Sonic figured it was Misty, and quickly he ran to the side of the rooftop, and dove, just a second before Misty flew above him, followed by Alexis and Tails, who flew behind her. Sonic took flight and attacked Tails, throwing him into the same pile of glass that was nearby, glass breaking and shattering everywhere. Sonic then went for Alexis, and got the chance to slam him into a pole, Alexis was then instantly knocked out.

Misty made a circle and came to Sonic and met by where Alexis landed when he hit, "The other two are gone." Misty said, "And you look like you've just gone through a shredder."

"Yeah, a glass shredder." Sonic said, looking at his bloody stomach.

"You're mine!" A deep voice spoke behind Misty.

Misty lost control of her shifting, and was shifted to her hedgehog form, and was attacked by Espio from behind with great force, both rolling almost into Sonic. Sonic stepped back, and avoided Misty and Espio, and shifted to his normal form. Espio clutched Misty around the waist, unsheathed a claw, brought it at Misty's neck, and looked at Sonic with a tense smile.

Sonic froze and growled, "Unhand her Espio!"

"Why should I, she'll be mine anyways." Espio sneered, "Anymore steps, and I'll drain her blood until she's dry."

Misty whimpered a little, knowing not to speak. Sonic stared, and stepped back a few steps, "How about I make a deal with you."

Espio stared at him, "I don't take deals, now, if you excuse me, I have business to make with Misty."

Misty then bit Espio's hand with the claw, but this time, Espio didn't even flinch, and he mutated, with Misty still in his arms, and he flew off with her. Sonic then went after him, and shifted to his mutant form.

-----------------

Carmen sat up slowly, and looked through the windshield, and to her surprise, no crack was on it. She stared at it, then turned, and kicked the door open, breaking the latch. Slowly she stepped outside, and wiped her nose, seeing some blood on her wrist, she sniffed, and looked back at the Charger.

The Charger's driver side was smashed, and the window's were broken cleanly, but glass was everywhere on the ground. She then saw that Marie was awake, and sat back inside, with one foot on the platform, and the rest of her body in the Charger.

"You okay Marie?" Carmen asked weakly.

"Ugh, yeah, what a knock out for the head." Marie said rubbing her head.

"Get out this way Marie, but is everyone else okay?"

Rouge sat up and shook her head, "What happened anyways?"

"We crashed is what." Marie said.

"Is Charmy okay?" Carmen asked.

Rouge looked at Vector, he was still sound asleep, but Charmy was nowhere to be seen.

"Girls, Charmy's gone!" Rouge cried to them.

"No I'm not." Charmy said as he got from under the passenger seat.

Carmen laughed, "At least you're still alive."

"Yeah, my head hurts." Charmy complained.

Carmen turned to Marie, "I just remembered something, and it's bad."

"I presume you're going to ask about the Emeralds?" Marie stated with her arms crossed, "but the Emeralds should be in one area of this city, so that makes things easier."

"But how do we find them if we can't walk on water?" Charmy cried.

"That's then when Rouge helps us." Carmen smiled.

"Huh?" Rouge said confused.

"Rouge, I realize this isn't a good idea," Marie said, "But we need you to one, go get Conore and the others, and second, find Sonic and Misty and get them after we land somewhere else, at the same time, look for the Emeralds."

Rouge sighed, "Fine, I'll be back."

Rouge spread her wings and flew off, out of the three's sight.

Marie sighed, "Let's get back in, just in case any one of the mutants come back."

Carmen and Charmy nodded, and all three got in the Charger, slamming the driver's door shut. Vector finally woke up, and sat up, rubbing his head.

"Ow, why does my head hurt?" Vector complained.

Carmen and Marie looked at one another, and sighed; now knowing that they now have two complainers to deal with.

-----------------

Rouge scavenged the district and checked inside every hole, every window, and every hiding place, just in case she pasted by the Emeralds without knowing. Wishing she had brought her radar for easier scanning, she sighed in distress and kept looking, but also kept looking for Misty and Sonic, not finding the Nightstar like what was asked before anything else. But knowing her love for jewels, she kept on her course and kept her eyes open for anything strange, like a light from underwater.

Rouge stared at the light in the water, and debated whether to dive, or leave, for there were three possibilities. One would be it would so be the Emeralds, but they'd be lingering deep underwater, maybe under a wrecked building, and was bright enough to shine a strong glow through it, for the Emeralds' power can be so strong.

The second was Chaos lingering and waiting to emerge from the water to stun her, and also hiding some of the mutant friends she once knew to attack her, and cause the infection from Tails to become stronger, and break the cure's effect. Alexis would probably be her most hated mutant friend to come across with, especially seeing his fast movements, nearly nailing Misty more than enough times.

The third could be either Quazaireon or this so called Ramaindna, who one or both are waiting to let out a surprise attack, as part of Eggman and their plan, hold her hostage, and force the others to give in, along with the allowing of Misty to be the replacement for Rouge. She knew either ways, they could have a terrible result.

She kept suspended over the light, and stared at it, and seen a shadow cast through it, almost in the shape of Espio. Rouge blinked, and watched the light again, curious, but ready to run.

Another shadow passed through, this time, something with wings past through it. Rouge then instantly flew away, and hid in a broken office nearby, the window shattered, but fogged up from the rain, pollution, and an old fire that was around for about an hour feeding on a wire that was active. She stood by a damp desk, papers almost like see-through tattoos filled with writing that she ignored. She watched from there, and waited.

She heard water spurt up, somewhat sounding like a geyser has just busted into the air, but along with that sound came the loudest screech since the last one Espio made. Like nails on chalkboard, and metal on metal rubbing violently together, she covered her ears and fell on her knees, grinding her teeth, and tightening her grip on her ears, the sound was too strong for her, and she only heard a pop, then nothing. She began to panic; she couldn't even hear her own heart beat.

-----------------

"Let her go!" Sonic snarled, ripping at Espio's back, his claws tearing through his skin, and shredding his old wound, making the old pain even worse.

Espio screeched again, and finally let Misty go, and she dropped into the water lightly, but enough force to make the water touch Sonic's skin barely. Sonic finally got a grip with his index finger claw on one of Espio's backbone, and hooked where Espio's second spike formed. Espio couldn't bare the pain, and neither could he bear to turn around, all he could do was fly. His back creaked a little, rubbing against Sonic's claw with nothing to protect it. What did help him though, was the serpents, and three emerged from Espio's stomach, and snapped on to Sonic's wounded stomach.

Sonic also let out a loud screech, but not loud enough to damage Espio, but well enough, that Rouge's ears popped again, and she heard a different type of screech. She sat for a moment and rubbed her ears, pain kicking in a bit, and fading away, she then got up and looked outside, and seen Espio and Sonic hooked by one another, Sonic by claw, Espio by serpents.

Sonic noticed Rouge, and tried to call her name, but all that came out was a growl that he hasn't heard before. He released Espio's back, and the serpents released him. Both broke and suspended into air, resting for the moment, letting the pain fade away. Sonic tried to call Rouge's name again, but the same thing happened, he tried again, and still the same thing happened; now he couldn't speak.

He heard Espio laugh a little, and he glanced over, holding his bloody stomach with both of his arms. Espio looked over, and grinned comically and evilly, "After biting me, Shadow, and Knuckles so many times, the injection put into us has passed on to you, and Misty's the same way, the last part, is when you begin to lose control of your mind, and uncontrollably mutate into something beyond that form of yours."

Sonic couldn't believe it, he's already lost control of his mind more than once, and he's just being told that that's part of the mutation stage. He didn't understand, why hasn't he mutated while his mind was uncontrollable? That thought was changed, when his spine popped. His first thought came through his head, he was starting to mutate, but almost like Espio's mutation, maybe even exactly. Espio's spine first popped before he mutated, and that was a bad sign. If his back popped, the mutation was happening.

Rouge was able to hear the pop from where she stood, and she panicked again, but instead of doing nothing, she looked down, towards where Misty landed in the water, and dove, dove towards the water as fast as she could. Soon, she collapsed with the water like a needle dropping through a bubble, and water spurted behind her, and she quickly tried to scavenge for Misty while the light was blinding her.

Sonic tried to keep himself under control, but he nearly lost his balance in air, and ended up landing on a rooftop of an old auto shop. Sonic drifted from his gifted mutant form, to his normal form, the form of his old blue self, but now all of that was going to fade, as he slowly, began to mutate.

Espio landed ten feet away from Sonic on water, and shifted to normal, and watched as Sonic's soul was slowly drifting from his mind, his body, his life, all of those sixteen years, now taken by the injection that he sucked down through of all of those attacks that he made, just to protect the others, and to try and save his friends. Sonic in his mind felt displeased, and he thought he failed. He failed to keep his friends as one, and to keep fighting only Espio, Shadow, Knuckles, and the others before Alexis and Tails. He failed to help Misty, help her through her encounters with Espio, Shadow, and Knuckles, and help her when she most needed it, he should've seen Espio coming, but he just had to stare at his wounded stomach. He failed to help the others more, for when he last seen them, they lost Misty, and were just about to crash, just before he ran into the pile of glass. He failed the others at the Nightstar and around, for they expected him to be more careful, and needed him for this challenge. But mostly, he failed to save Espio, his soul trapped and secured inside that evil body. He failed.

That was then he blacked out for the mutation, when his back popped a second time. He didn't restrain, nor did he just let himself mutate, but he made the mutation slow, but willing. His body color faded to almost a grayish color, barely a tint of blue showed, as he curled up a little into partly a ball. His wounds disappeared, and were quickly replaced by different black lightning-like markings, crawling up his legs, up to his stomach, and partly covered his face, the marking then had a unique white highlight around them like the opposite of black lining and a white inside.

He rolled on his back, his chest rising and falling as if someone was trying to pull him by the skin of his pectorals, his ribcage enlarging greatly in size, indenting his skin with a starvation look. His abdominal muscles also in size, and the enlargement went down to his quadriceps, then ending at his feet, his shoes ripped open, and talons of a hawk formed, but acted like raptor claws, one larger than the others on both feet. His hands did the same thing, only all of the claws were evenly sized, and his gloves slashed open, as his hands grew larger and more muscular. His arms formed like his legs, and engorged massively, both lower and upper arms turned out ten times as bigger than they just were when he was normal.

Sonic lunged his chest upwards, and his back engraved his spine, which soon with a painful pin feeling, formed blue and black demon wings, that stretched under him widely and above his head, and small black-tipped quills down his back. The engraving also was made through on to his tail, and quickly lengthened into a whip-like shape, and two pairs of spikes formed at the end, all serrated for the razor look. His quills split into many more quills, and more crawled to his ears, and two were formed right beside them near where a jagged horn formed.

He cried out with the same screeching noise, that morphed into a lion's roar and a wolf's snarl, and his teeth became larger, almost looking like a saber tiger's fangs, but not long enough to overlap his mouth. He felt his eyes begin to sting, and he howled even more, the pain increasing, then decreased, and all of the tension that he was getting disappeared, and he lied on the ground motionless. His eyes then flashed open, still gold, but his pupils were nearly gone, only a slit was in his eyes, and he arose on his feet, in his new mutant form.

Espio stared at Sonic for a moment in normal state and with his arms crossed, still having not to move from his placement. He stared at him, and stared, his grim face then lightening up, and he began to chuckle a little, his deep voice bringing out his fangs in thirst. His chuckle then morphed into a laugh, and the laugh grew loud, as he evilly laughed into the air, and his voice echoed into the air in happiness to see Sonic finally mutated.

-----------------

Quazaireon was nearby, and couldn't believe what just happened, his mouth dropped like an anchor, and his eyes were wide open at Sonic. Ramaindna appeared through a dark smoke that formed from behind him, and she walked forward to him, then stood by him.

"Sonic wasn't supposed to mutate until we had everyone." Quazaireon pointed out, "How could he have mutated?"

"Through blood." Ramaindna mentioned, "Sometimes even by a spell, or even a charm, maybe a curse."

"I understand that, but I mean, that's never happened before."

"I found Eggman." She brought up.

Quazaireon turned to her, "And?"

"He's fine, he's not like them." She stated, "The injection has no effect on humans."

"I should've known." He growled.

"Where is Misty and Rouge?"

"I just came here just as Sonic was mutating, but not soon enough to see if Rouge was around."

-----------------

"Misty?" Rouge stared at her.

"Yes, we can talk underwater Rouge, thanks to me." Misty smiled a little, "Where's Sonic?"

"Um, I have bad news." Rouge said lowering her head.

"Not now, help me get these Emeralds." Misty said as she swam down more into the light, which dimmed down to barely a glow.

Rouge followed, and seen the Emeralds were under something, a large thick wall laid on the Master Emerald at an angle, while the rest of the Chaos Emeralds lied around it. Misty tried to shift, but the shifting was almost impossible for her to do, so she stayed as what she was, and grabbed the wall on a broken higher edge, waiting for Rouge. Rouge caught up, and both kicked their feet hard and fast, barely a budge was made. They went to the longer side, and pushed on that, it budged again, and moved off of the Master Emerald, and crashed behind it.

Misty gave a thumb up in success, and swam down by the Emerald; Rouge swam down and floated in front of her.

"I can submerge the Chaos Emeralds into my necklace," Misty started to explain, "The Master Emerald I can't, you'll have to help me carry it up to the surface."

"That's the problem." Rouge said, "We don't know if they're still up there."

Both heard a sound of water crashing, as if something jumped in. Both turned their heads and looked up, and seen a figure up near the surface, just sitting there, watching. Misty looked closer, squinting her eyes, but nothing came clearly, until it moved and bolted towards her.

Rouge without thinking moved, Misty didn't have time to move, and the last thing she seen was like a nightmare to her, and all she seen were gold slotted eyes, and fangs almost larger than her fist. Misty felt her body grabbed, then felt her back crash into a a pile of bricks, almost breaking her back. She shredded tears out, and she hollered out in pain, and blood quickly ran out of her, and already she felt her neck bit into, and was loosing blood quickly. She opened her eyes, and tried to see what she was being attacked by. The gold eyes gave it away, and her eyes shrunk, it was Sonic normal looking but his back was arched, and his claws and talons hooked on her like a ravage cat. She panicked instantly.

Rouge looked and seen Misty being held against her own will, she was about to charge, and she swung her arm back, hitting her knuckles on the wall they moved. She felt not only the wall, but also something in her glove on her finger, as if it was a ring. Curious, she unsheathed her glove, and found a gold and sapphire ring on her ring finger. She remembered, it was the same ring that Sonic was given by Marie, but how did it get on her finger was her main question.

"Rouge!"

Rouge spun around and seen the water tinting to a red color, Misty was probably dying, and she needed to do something fast before Sonic's obsession goes too far. She then looked at the ring, and it began to glow a yellowish color. Rouge's mind then blacked out, and her mind was lost for the time being.

-----------------

Vector paced back and fourth, waiting for Rouge's arrival, both Carmen and Marie sat on the ground by the Charger, and Charmy sat on the driver's seat by Carmen's head, kicking his legs back and fourth, patiently waiting. The roar that they heard was barely heard, but gave Carmen a bad feeling; the feeling of chills and shivers down her spine.

Marie's head shot up when she heard the sound of a jet nearby, Carmen also heard, and they both stared up in the sky, and seen the Nightstar show up above their heads, and started to descend slowly downwards to the water, landing in the water with a pontoon boat floaters that assisted the Nightstar right next to the panel that thy sat on. A walkway formed from the ship, and secured itself on the panel like glue, and the ship anchored with weights that dropped from different areas. Vector and Charmy both rose and stood by one another, waiting if Conore was going to come down.

"What are you peopling doing? Get on and let's go!" Conore said as he waved them in.

The four ran on the walkway and up into the ship, and the walkway behind them, shrank back into the ship, and the door closed, the weights pulled up, and the Nightstar took flight, and headed back where it came from.

The four walked in, and found Yorker, Amy, Cream and Cheese, Lakia, Kris, Aaron, and Canaras on board. They all were very pleased to see the four, but the four weren't.

"Where's Rouge?" Carmen asked.

"We haven't even seen Rouge." Lakia answered.

"Oh my god." Amy gasped, "Where's Sonic? And Misty?"

The ship rumbled and everyone except Yorker and Conore fell down. Aaron was able to get up quick enough to spot Misty in her firefox form flying away from a massive mutant, and Espio was chasing Rouge.

"I can answer that real easily." Aaron said while getting up, "Sonic's a freaking mutant!"

"WHAT!?" They all gasped in shock.

-----------------

"Damn it Rouge! Have you figured out what that ring does?" Misty tried talking as she tried dodging the serpent Sonic threw at her.

"It blacked me out, then you were set free was all I know." Rouge said as she clung to Misty.

"What are you doing?" Misty growled, "This is going to get us both killed!"

"Sonic was given the ring for a purpose." Rouge mentioned, "Hikarari must of seen it coming, and her and Marie gave him that ring to protect him from mutating. Maybe if the ring was to be put on Sonic…"

"He'd recover and shift to normal!" Misty finished.

"Right, now see if you can get Sonic to grab you, and I can try to put the ring on."

"Not on my life!" Misty argued, "I'm not just telepathic, I'm also partly telekinetic, so you get grabbed, and I'll put the ring on mentally."

"How about you take care of Sonic on your own, and I'll hold off Espio." Rouge suggested.

"Fine, action!"

Rouge jumped off of Misty, and started to pull Espio away from Misty's trail, and Misty made the attempt of putting the ring on Sonic without getting caught.

-----------------

"How did you know it was Sonic?" Amy bawled while on her knees.

"The gold eyes were the big giveaway." Aaron mentioned.

"Dayem." Lakia said while looking at Sonic, "Sonic's probably the size of Alexis, maybe even bigger!"

"Ya think?" Carmen said.

"Misty's going to have a tough time not only with Sonic," Canaras mentioned, "but along with Espio, he can control her shape shifting act."

"How?" Kris stared.

"Espio's and Misty's saliva and blood mixed into one another's body," Marie explained, "but mostly Misty's blood, so Espio has almost total control over Misty's shifting act, making it more difficult for her to shift. This is also a bad step."

"Bad step?" Conore looked at her, "I understand she's merely controlled, but what kind of a step towards to?"

"I was reading Misty's mind when I caught this," Marie sighed, "but Misty is one step closer too, to becoming a mutant."

Cream, Cheese, and Charmy became frightened, and held one another in panic. Everyone else except Canaras all sighed in grief, now knowing that Misty has became the next victim.

-----------------

Misty was instantly caught after she passed Rouge, and she felt Sonic's claws pierce through her. She tried her hardest to resist the pain, and she quickly shifted to her normal hedgehog form, and snagged one of Sonic's immense fingers, and slipped the ring on it. She then blacked out.

Rouge looked behind her and seen Espio, but also seen Sonic flash, and he was instantly his own hedgehog self, just holding Misty, and they both started falling towards the water below.

She made a sharp turn, and bolted downwards to Sonic and Misty, able to make Espio give in, and fly away from them. Rouge dived faster, and got a hold of Sonic's hand, then got a hold of Misty's. Then tried to use the rest of her energy to slow down the falling, and wait for the Nightstar.

The ship flew under her, and drifted upwards a little, and Rouge was able to drop Misty and Sonic right in with Canaras and Marie's arms. She then descended inside, and the hatch closed, and the Nightstar busted off.

"Sonic!" Amy cried.

Sonic just barely awoken and Amy clung to him and gripped him tight, her face turning red, and covered by her own tears. Sonic was able to stand, and he hugged Amy lightly back, and let her cry on him. Misty awoken and she barely could stand, so she collapsed by Aaron, and lied on the bench exhausted.

"Kick ass Misty!" Yorker cheered.

"Yeah Misty! You saved Sonic." Lakia praised her.

"Don't just thank me, thank Rouge." Misty pointed weakly towards Rouge, but then her arm froze in air, and she instantly jumped up on her feet in alarm, "AH! The Master Emerald!!"

"That's right! Where is it?" Marie asked her.

"Here, let me show you." Rouge started to direct.

-----------------

"How in god's name of hell did Sonic turn normal?!" Eggman shrieked.

"I don't know for the last time!" Quazaireon barked back, "And if I did, I would tell you right in your face!"

"Silence!" Ramaindna shouted while slamming the door shut behind her.

The two males froze and looked at her, her face gave out a strong hatred look, the look that she shined on the two standing in front of her. She sighed, relieved from the shouting that took place.

"Sonic wasn't supposed to mutate this soon anyways." She explained, "It's Misty though we need to rush. Otherwise nothing is going to get done."

"Tell that to him." Quazaireon pointed out vigorously, "He was the one who needed the most help."

"Enough from you!" Ramaindna growled, "Where are the Emeralds?"

"They're gone basically." Eggman said, "I don't have them on radar anywhere."

Ramaindna sighed, "Who's all a mutant, just for my curiosity."

"Well now," Eggman started to research, "From oldest to newest, Espio, Knuckles, Shadow, Alexis, Tails, and, Misty's added."

"Why so?"

"Probably that fact she's starting to mutate." Quazaireon thought.

Ramaindna nodded.

"Leave her?"

"Do so." Ramaindna nodded again.

_I somewhat expected for Sonic to mutate sooner, but I never expected this soon, both Rouge and I became aware that from this point on, that anything could happen…_

_I don't believe Espio's words though of me mutating, I think he's just trying to put more stress on us, and is holding more control over my shape shifting, I don't find it impossible, but it's difficult to get control over a Traveling Earthesens' shifting ability…_

_Now everyone knows that the injection that was once in Espio alone, is now taking more effect on everyone, and Sonic's mutation proved it greatly, and so did my shape shifting problem…_


	20. Taking His Advice

**Chapter 20:**

** Taking His Advice**

"I noticed Mellony's gone." Misty mentioned.

"Yeah, she was taken back to Night City." Yorker said, "Hikarari was suppose to have returned, but she hasn't since she left."

Sonic looked at Yorker, finally released from Amy's grasp, "So that's why Marie came to Rouge's rescue alone."

"Basically." Marie nodded, "are you feeling okay there, Sonic?"

"Kinda." Sonic replied while rubbing his head, "the mutation was weird, and after I blacked out, I just got a huge headache."

"Like it doesn't hurt." Rouge growled, "Tails I thought took a piece of my foot off when I felt he bit it."

"Well be happy you ain't the one that's got probably forty-five minutes before you mutate." Misty glared at her.

"Why? Are you?" Aaron asked Misty.

"That's right!" Sonic replied sticking up his fist at Aaron's face, "And if we don't freaking hurry up, we just lost our only key to unlock Espio's damn soul!"

Aaron backed away, "Okay okay, shesh!"

Cream came in through the crowd and looked up at Sonic, "What about the Master Emerald?"

Rouge fell on the bench on top of Misty, and Misty let out a yelp, and bucked off Rouge, then shift to her hedgehog form, "Are you blind?"

"Sorry." Rouge apologized, "But I don't want to get it, I've already had to nearly go def just to listen to Sonic mutate."

"That's actually taken care of." Hikarari's voice echoed through the room.

Everyone turned their heads, and noticed Hikarari standing by the ladder leading to the hatch above. She stood smiling proud, "The Master Emerald is on top of the ship, I got it after Misty and Rouge lead Espio and Sonic away from it."

"Sis, you're a life saver." Marie smiled.

_Beep beep! Beep beep!_

They all heard, and turned their heads back towards Yorker. He pressed the access button, and a screen appeared, but not of Eggman's face.

Everyone shrieked, and Yorker fell out of his seat in shock at the sight of Alexis' as a mutant right up on the screen. Conore nearly fell out of his seat, but got a hold of the arms on the seat, and was able to keep himself up barely. Charmy cried out and hid behind Vector, and coward behind him. Sonic's face turned a bit pale, and Misty jumped backwards at the sight. Carmen clung to Canaras, who didn't even move.

The screen changed, and it showed Eggman's face, and he began to laugh at them. Everyone straightened up and gave him a large scowl towards him.

"Didn't expect that did ya now." Eggman laughed.

"God damn you Eggman!" Yorker cursed, "The next time you do that, I won't be afraid to come and find you, and destroy your ship with one blast!"

"Try me." Eggman sneered, "Your time's running out Misty, at this very moment, you only have forty minutes until you mutate. And I know non of you want her to join us, especially with Espio wanting her so badly."

"We'll take care of you all before you make me your next victim." Misty growled.

"And I'll make sure of it." Sonic defended.

"Oh really?" Eggman cocked his head, "Do you even realize what has happen to you?"

Sonic stared at him, "Yeah, I mutated no thanks to Espio, I'm normal, so what are you saying?"

"The mutant form Misty gave you is now gone forever." Eggman explained, "No if you want to shift for flight and fight, you'll be against your friends, and run ravage and wild. You see, after biting Shadow, Knuckles, and Espio so many times, your old mutant form has improved massively, and you've grown stronger, wilder, and your craving for blood will increase, drifting over into your normal form. So really, if you even think about mutating, the crave will kick in, and anyone around you, will be your prey faster than you'll realize it."

Everyone turned and looked at Sonic, Sonic's stare faded, and his face grew paler, "No, that can't happen."

"It just has," Eggman mocked, "I wish you all luck trying to win over us, soon, you'll all either die, or join us, as the Kiroshioneze of the Dark will rule over the Light."

Quazaireon spoke in the background, "That was my line!"

Eggman ignored him, "I should also mention, even though Espio has that weak spot both on his back and stomach, and even though he hasn't shown it yet, but he'll get much stronger, and his craving will grow larger, and his attacks will be more quicker and silent. For I discovered what Quazaireon and I have made, was not an ordinary injection."

"How so?" Marie asked, "If I was able to cure Rouge, then why is it not ordinary?"

"Because, it's the continuous growth," Eggman explained, "The injection makes Espio grow more, it's just it had a bit of a problem, until you triggered it Sonic. If Espio were to become immortal lets say, by the next one hundred years, his whole original form will no longer be any way similar then to what he is of today."

The ship then shook violently again, and loud screeching was made up above them. Everyone fell silent, no one spoke, but everyone's minds filled with fear, Sonic especially.

Eggman continued, "But, means you Sonic and Misty helped the injection become more powerful, Espio will grow stronger by the minute now, and so will Chaos. Now if you'd excuse me, I see you have company."

"NO!" Sonic cried out, but the screen then blacked out, he and the others were then left to be frightened.

"What are we going to do?" Charmy panicked, "The Master Emerald is on top of the ship, and Espio's up there and…"

"Charmy we know!" The group hollered at him.

"We really don't have a choice." Marie said, "Someone's gonna have to take him on."

"But what if the others are with him? Then we'll lose." Amy mentioned.

"Face it, this is just the beginning," Misty growled a little, "We need to choose from what's right, and what's easy. And I vote what's right."

Sonic nodded with her, and so did some of the others.

Misty shifted to her fox form and was headed to the ladder, "I shall now be-"

"No." Sonic stopped her.

Misty looked up at him, "Sonic, you can't take another hit! That ring may have saved you once, but it may have no effect the next time."

Sonic tossed the ring by Misty's front paw, and started to walk up the ladder, flinching multiple times, "When that clock hits two ten, come after me."

Misty turned her head to the clock, and see it was 1:10 p.m. which meant in an hour, go after him. They all then started to see his skin change color, and quickly he brought down the Master Emerald into the ship, and exited out of the hatch, just as his muscles started bulging and becoming larger.

---------------

Just as Sonic closed the hatch, his tail enlarged, and four spikes reappeared back on the end of the tail, and Espio flew by and struck him along the side. Sonic fell and bustled backwards, almost off of the Nightstar, able to get a grip on a smaller left wing, scratching the surface with his claws that continued to grow. Espio struck him again in the stomach, making Sonic flip on his backside on the wing, and instantly his ribs busted and took a larger shape, his abs growing larger, larger than before.

"You don't stand a chance against me Sonic." Espio's voice echoed in the nearby mist, "you mutation will grow stronger and forcefully, plus, my craving will pass on to you, once I get one last bite out of you, and the lust for blood and more will be irresistible."

Sonic's eyes flashed open, and reacted quickly by doing the one thing to escape. He leaped from the Nightstar and started to plummet into the city's realm.

He spotted Espio dashing down towards him, his wingspan much superior than their last encounter, and his muscles looking a lot like Sonic's when he mutated wildly. Espio's eyes didn't change, and kept their serpent look to them, but the third eye disappeared. Sonic felt his eyes twitched, and he lost his sight for that moment, struggling to gain his sight again, but it never returned.

His legs lost some feeling, and then a painful tension came to them, and quickly Sonic's sight was regained. He gripped his legs, the pain torturing him, as his hands started to feel his legs extend and build more muscle inside. He flew his himself backwards, and caught a pole that nearly passed by him. The pole was slick, and his grip was lost, quickly then he fell downward on top of a rooftop. Instantly, he felt his chest and stomach fall into pain, and his abs and chest grew even more. Sonic started to breathe faster, and his heartbeat raised rapidly, his chest rising and falling significantly. Sonic's sight then blacked out, and so did his mind.

_Sonic._

Sonic woke up, and slowly got up, noticing his whole body was completely normal, he stood, and looked around, seeing no one around.

_Sonic, listen to me, turn around, I'm right behind you._

He spun around, and standing in front of him was the chameleon, the chameleon that gave the message from the amulet. He stood in front of Sonic with just a bit more height than Sonic's, then he stepped forward more towards Sonic, and looked at him with eyes that reflected Sonic's face.

Sonic blinked a few times, and stared at the chameleon with shock, "Wait, you the-"

"No time to mention anything of the past right now." The chameleon spoke, "right now, what you're going through is something that can be resisted."

"How, I'm mutating every second, I can't control it." Sonic explained.

"That's because you tasted blood so many times of the mutant." The chameleon reminded, "Let the injection fill you, for the mutation will shorten, but you will grow not into what you just were."

Sonic blinked a few times, but listened carefully.

"Right at this very moment, you body is reaching to the point where you'll mutate all at once, and will stop all at once, though your growth will be rapid and that your body will enlarge even bigger than Alexis' wingspan, you will be able to regain control over yourself, you just need to bite Espio's swollen spot."

"His stomach." Sonic remembered.

"Even though that's where Espio's first injection was placed, that is the only spot where the injection no longer lingers, that will cease Espio's non-stop mutation, and will slowly drain his energy. During this time, you and two others must face him inside of Chaos, along beside your friends that suffered the same consequence. This will only work once, don't fail."

Sonic nodded.

"The amulet is now practically useless, but the ring is still useful for more strength."

"What about Misty? Isn't she suppose to-"

"No."

"What?" Sonic shrieked.

"The injection has no effect on her except she fall more under Espio's ravage control, that's the only thing, in order for her to mutate, her necklace must be off, and Espio must be connected with her in order to gain full control over her, the making her into what he desires."

Sonic's mind fell blank for that moment, and then he remembered what he did with her before, and still feels guilty about it.

He lowered his head, "I'm sorry it had to be Espio."

The chameleon put his left hand on Sonic's left shoulder, "It's not your fault that a war is soon to begin, and the Dark was able to get a quicker start then anyone else. But trust me, Misty and many others will help you get through, for Misty is special, and she's been that way for years, even though she hasn't realize it. But she's much more of a strong willed hedgehog than what you see right now, this is only practice to her, and you'll soon understand that."

Sonic smiled at him, "At least I know that there'll be someone like be by my side."

The chameleon smiled back.

"But, one last question, what is Espio's fate? If he hasn't already seen it."

The chameleon stepped back, "It'll come soon, and you just need to be patient."

Sonic watched him disappear, then stood there, feeling more positive, but, the he remembered, he has a long way to go before peace came, he first had to mutate, like the older chameleon wanted him to do, and let the injection do it's duty.

-----------------

"So what do we do with the Emeralds?" Cream asked.

"We need Sonic for one." Carmen mentioned, "Anyone have any ideas though?"

Misty's head popped up with a large grin on her face, "I just realize something!"

Everyone's heads turned to her, waiting for her to speak more.

"Okay, ya know how if we have all seven of the Emeralds, and we can shift to our super forms?" Misty smile grew greater.

"Like oh my god!" Amy cheered, "We can fight against Chaos and Espio!"

"Course I never thought of that." Aaron said while scratching his head.

"But not one can take him alone, right?" Marie glanced at Carmen and Rouge.

"Huh?" Rouge questioned, "If I have to help Misty and Sonic, count me out."

"I wasn't talking about you Rouge, but Carmen." Marie started to beg.

"It would be best if you did help them." Hikarari told Carmen.

Carmen nodded, "I'd be more than happy to help, as long as-"

The ship shook more, this time the sound of metal clinging. Charmy shrieked and hid under the bench and coward in fear.

"He's back! He's going to kill us!" Charmy cried out.

"The question is who and how." Rouge said while holding on to the ladder behind her.

Conore bolted past Rouge and opened the door of which Misty remembers too well for, and she silently growled a little in annoyance. Conore then rushed out back into his seat and started what looked like system scans. Lakia leaned over by his head and looked down at the computer that he typed on.

"What's going on exactly?" Lakia asked him.

"One of the boosters. Whatever attacked us took one out." Conore said to her.

"That ain't good, is it?" Cream asked.

The group turned and glared at Cream and Cheese, both then went and coward with Charmy below the bench.

"We're gonna have to land somewhere." Yorker warned Conore, "Otherwise another hit could kill us all."

Carmen was going to speak to Misty, but then heard a clang of metal echo in the room. Some of the group turned their heads and noticed that Misty was gone. Carmen's expression changed quickly, she knew what Misty was going to do, and it wasn't good.

---------------

Misty quickly jumped off of the Nightstar as she formed wings, and she dove like a snow owl in the sky towards the city, where the flooding was still rising, but not by much. She leveled out a little until a serpent snapped by her head, and nearly threw her off of her course. She spun her head around to see Espio was on her tail, throwing the serpents at her rapidly and swiftly as he tried to maneuver close to her from behind. She made a quickly sharp turn upwards and threw a blue flamethrower at him, burning his skin by only a little, when originally, the burn should be much more severe.

Quickly she dove back downwards and flew right past him, just as he was regaining his balance in air, and forcefully made Misty shift into her hedgehog form. She shrieked and tried to slow down her fall waving her arms franticly for help. Espio quickly swooped down and took her into his arms underneath her, and took her with him as he flew.

"Let me go Espio!" Misty growled.

Espio grinned at her, revealing his fangs that grew larger than she last them, "You think you're going to get away from me this time don't you?"

Misty growled at him viciously in irritation, "You don't want to temper me, especially when I'm not in the best mood."

Espio laughed a little, "You're my type then."

Misty then lost it, and went to an outrage, uncontrollably fighting back, kicking, biting, and after she formed her own claws, she started clawing at him. Espio resisted the pain, and spotted a nearby building, and threw themselves into a window that shattered, but left some pieces still standing, scaring Misty's stomach as they both passed through. Espio was able to shift to normal, and pinned Misty down on the damp floor firmly, allowing her to verily struggle, though with her scared up from the crashing, she didn't even move.

"See you escape this." Espio smiled crazily as he leaned over her head.

Misty got scared quickly, seeing his face getting more crazed than she's ever seen. She wanted help, but to shift into something to his weakness would be almost impossible with him around.

"Step away, from Misty." A broad voice passed through.

Espio spun his head around, but had no time to see what attacked him, ungluing him from Misty with a rapid motion, crashing Espio across the room through another glass window. Misty got up quickly, and then was picked up not by hands, but what felt like thick heavy-duty claws that gripped her shoulders, and drug her through the outside window. Misty was able to get a glance at what saved her, and found no ordinary creature that she's remembered.

---------------

"DUDE!" Yorker cried out, "Misty's been snatched by a frickin' large mutant ten times larger than Espio!"

Everyone scurried over and seen through the screen an enormous mutant, one that looked like a hedgehog, but the features were nowhere near an original hedgehog. This mutant in their eyes had no skin; muscles and some bones were left uncovered, sickly moving with grossness yet dull gray. Eyes black as the shadows beneath them, reflecting nothing out of them, along with the claws think as a dragon's middle talon, with the sharpest point.

Amy fainted; Canaras then dragged her away from the others and set her on the bench nearby.

"Can anyone tell me who that is exactly?" Canaras growled a little.

"Fifty bucks on Shads." Rouge betted.

"Fifty thousand on Sonic." Conore went against her.

"Now come on you two!" Lakia cried out, "Let's not start betting on who's the next to become a mutant next, right now's not the time!"

"Conore! We're losing booster power." Yorker warned.

Lakia sighed.

"She's right, we need to get Misty and Sonic back, and face Espio with Chaos and the others, so we can save them and stop Eggman."

The ship shook, and they heard another booster quiet down. Charmy, Cream, and Cheese then coward even more, and Vector sat beside them trying to calm them.

"We'll be fine." Conore told the others, "We still have two boosters left."

"Land on that rooftop." Carmen pointed, "From what I see it, it's the only one that'll hold the Nightstar."

-------------------

"Sonic?" Misty questioned as she was dropped on a rock pile.

The creature that was presumed to be Sonic had no time to stop, and it leaped away from her, and attacked Espio in air as he came out through the broken window. Both then plunged to the water and a huge amount if it splashed on Misty and rose high in the air, and fell down, splattering all over the water, where blood started to rise and taint the water. Misty edged towards the water to see if, what she though was Sonic, was still alive, but no sign was given to her.

"Misty! Are you okay?"

Misty turned her head to see Lakia flying down with her bat wings towards her, followed by Rouge. Misty nodded silently, and looked back down at the water. Lakia and Rouge manage to land on the rock pile a little above Misty's stance, and stood there waiting for her reaction.

Water shot up right in front of her with a loud crashing sound, making all three girls fall over on the pile, and land painfully with distress. Misty stared up with a cautious eye, and caught a glimpse of Espio coming back down, with raging speed; he tried to outrun Sonic, who was flying right behind him. She heard Rouge and Lakia panic a little, and dove into the water, making Espio miss her, and bury his head into the rock pile where Misty once was. Sonic shifted to normal, and stomped Espio further into the pile, half buried.

"Rouge! Lakia! Get out of here!" Sonic commanded.

Lakia stood up, "But what about Misty?"

"Just get back to the ship!" Sonic snapped, "Don't worry about her."

Lakia and Rouge stared at Sonic for a moment, then took off into flight, leaving Sonic be. Sonic watched them go, then once again, jumped on Espio's back, stuffing him more into the pile, and dove for Misty.

"Well?" Carmen called to them impatiently.

"He's alive still." Rouge replied.

"Where's Misty?" Charmy cried a little.

"She dove into the water last time I've seen her." Lakia answered for him, "Though I don't like how Sonic's acting."

"Don't worry about him." Canaras told her, "Once you give him that ring, he'll be fine."

Lakia and Rouge landed and nodded.

"I notice we haven't seen the others." Vector pointed out.

"Remember that image?" Yorker growled.

Conore laughed, "I still feel sorry for you, but yeah, they're with Eggman."

"Wait, Knuckles, Shadow, and all of them?" Rouge asked.

Amy nodded, "Yeah. And when will we face-"

A large crashing sound echoed, and water shot up like a geyser behind Lakia and Rouge. Both spun around to see the water shot up higher that the building they stood on, falling down a little, and then taking shape into an immense water creature, they all recognized as Chaos.

"I guess that's answered." Amy feared.

Sonic and Misty bolted upwards from the side of the building and landed back on it, Misty in her fox form, and Sonic normal, but flinching recklessly.

"The ring! Where's the ring?" Marie called to the group.

They looked at Misty, who already set the ring on Sonic's finger. Sonic's flinching then ceased, and he fell on the ground breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling as he wheezed for fresh air.

Charmy started to dread in fear, and waved his arms frantically, "It's them! It's them!"

Carmen looked behind her, and found Shadow, Knuckles, Tails, and Alexis, headed their way. She glanced at Conore, and then everyone ran into the ship, Misty though was the only one who was left to drag Sonic a few yards, until he got up and ran. Serpents shot out at both of them, black, red, tan, black, black, tan, black, red, red, tan, black, black, and so on at random times. Sonic didn't hesitate, for the serpents were mostly attacking Misty, who was crazily tried dodging every one of them. Low jump, high spins, quick stepping, and turning at the last second was what she did, just to miss two at a time. She made her final leap into the ship, and Alexis' serpent was the last to attempt an attack, and failed.

Misty panted and fell down on the floor, her legs and tail twitching with jolts of quickness, too much of it. Sonic sat on the bench and stared down at her with a soft glare, his eyes still as gold as they have always been.

"I guess we can start our plan." Aaron mentioned.

Sonic looked up, "What plan?"

_It was about time that something was to be put into effect, anytime now, a Element demon could've popped up and made Chaos more mobile, and not in a very good way, and when I say one of the Element Demons, it would be of the Fake, not the True…_

_I don't quite understand how Sonic's mutant form can change, first, with wings and horn, next, muscled and think clawed, then, four legged and no skin, and then back around. That was something I didn't understand at all…_

_Let the plan take effect and save Espio and the others, for the promise is not yet broken…_


	21. Her Last Memory of Him

**Chapter 21: **

**Her Last Memory of Him**

Annoyed as ever before, Quazaireon paced back and fourth across the control room, passed Eggman's back many times, and ignored Ramaindna's calling, and continued to stare straight down at the metal tiled floor he walked on. His tail swishing endlessly, purple highlights glittering in multiple places at random times. Ramaindna, after several tries, then gave up, and grabbed a metal bar leaning on a computer side, and stood with it in her hands.

"Quazaireon?" Ramaindna tried the last time to call him.

Quazaireon continued to ignore her, and kept pacing back and fourth behind Eggman, Ramaindna sighed, and decided to smack Quazaireon's tail and smashed it into the tile. Quazaireon let out a loud howl, spun his head around and snarled at Ramaindna.

"What in god's name was that for?" Quazaireon growled.

"Are you def?" Ramaindna asked him.

"I'd rather be numb than def, but someone had to crash it." He glared.

"Can't you two shut up?" Eggman stared at them.

"You shut up!" The two shouted at him.

A loud clang of metal struck behind them, and the three spun their heads around to see Alexis standing by the door. His eyes pale, but fierce, and his hands had formed claws, holding the doors open, and standing behind him were Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow. They all stared at them for a moment, then walked in silently.

Quazaireon jerked his tail from underneath the bar and stood up facing them, "what is it?"

"It's Sonic." Alexis started off.

"What about him?"

"His mutant state has changed dramatically." Knuckles warned.

"Well I knew that." Quazaireon rolled his eyes.

"A no skinned mutant?" Shadow questioned him.

Quazaireon fell silent.

"It seems as if the injection is doing the same affect to Sonic as is to Espio, but much quicker." Tails mentioned.

"Eggman, got any ideas? Even though it's usually my answer?" Quazaireon looked back at him.

"I really don't know actually." Eggman said staring out, "I'm made little animals into machines, but making animals into blood thirsty mutants? That was beyond from what my eyes could see."

"Usually, the injection affects the mind midway into the mutation though." Alexis started again, "If he saved Misty without harming her, there's something that has to deal with his mutation cycle."

"Cycle?" Tails glanced at him.

"The cycle of which a mutant goes through, which has no limit." Quazaireon stated.

"So if Sonic mutates again, his mind will eventually be lost." Ramaindna said.

"Course then, how are we going to control him?" Eggman brought up.

-------------------

"Man Sonic, you look like crap." Aaron told him.

"That form of yours you just used was amazing though." Carmen commented as she handed Sonic an ice bag.

"Yeah, I have a feeling that mutant form won't be under my control the next time." Sonic stated as he took the ice bag and put in on his head, "and speaking of which, what plan do you have?"

"It's not mine actually." Conore told him, "it's really Misty's."

"Huh?" Vector glanced at her.

"Yeah! I noticed a few things, so I thought we could put it into one attack, or somewhat." Misty said.

She quickly shifted to her hedgehog form, and grabbed a large electronic board, like what they use with computers. She flipped out the lights and the screen lit up, showing a drawing of Chaos, the four others, and Carmen, Misty, and Sonic in their super states.

She began: "Okay, here's a few things, course Chaos had tentacles right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Well, this may be as our final attack I thought." Misty noted, "But, after we take down, Alexis and all of them, Carmen and I can take the tentacles, which more than likely will try and grab us, but while were inside them, and Chaos tries to make a vacuum out of those tentacles, Sonic will quickly run up and aim at Chaos' mouth, when it opens, Carmen and I will make out beam attack in the things, and Sonic will make him attack in the mouth."

The picture began to move, showing the exact thing Misty just said, she continued, "Course means Sonic's attack is in air, he'll get a head start ahead of us, and then we'll follow through, but the point is, the three beams will intersect where Espio is, which should destroy Chaos."

"But remember what that chameleon said," Marie reminded, "Espio could go down with Chaos."

"And I remember it well." Misty nodded.

"But how do we defeat the four?" Carmen asked.

"I was just talking to Lighter in my mind," Misty mentioned, "And he's more than happy to help out, he'll be bringing some ships so you guys could help. I think he's bringing in three."

"I'll go." Aaron smiled.

"No Aaron!" Lakia hissed, "Unlike some people, you have the worst of aim."

"I'll do it." Canaras stood.

"My sis and I are gonna do it the cultural way." Marie stated.

Hikarari stared at Marie for a moment.

"I've heard Mellony's gonna take one, and Lighter's in the third." Misty said, so I guess we're all set."

Vector stared at her a little "But, you said-"

"I know, I meant one extra, not three." Misty sighed.

Canaras leaned against the way beside him and listened carefully.

"Means there's four of them and nine of us, we'll be partnered, one group will be a group of three."

"Canaras can join with us." Hikarari replied.

"Okays." Misty scratched her head.

"Now wait a minute!" Vector hollered, "What about us that haven't got anything?"

"You'll be sitting in the ship, so nothing else happens." Conore answered.

Amy raised her hand, "Can't we even take a-"

"No!" Conore growled.

Amy put her hand back down.

"It's for your own safety Amy, and I agree with Conore about it." Sonic told her.

"But Sonic. You've been through a lot." Amy pouted, "We nearly lost you as a mutant, and I'm scared of losing you fully."

"Amy…" Sonic sighed.

"But it's true, I love you like you were-"

"ANYHOW!" Misty raised her voice.

Amy quickly silenced.

"Yeah, how can we defeat the four without actually killing them?" Aaron asked.

"Just keep attacking really. At some point the injection will be knocked out of their system." Misty shrugged.

"What about Quazaireon and that one other chick?" Sonic asked.

"Whatever they throw at you really, just bust through it or go around it." Misty answered, "But remember, means the amulet and the Emeralds are gonna be combined, doesn't mean we're invincible."

"But the amulet is useless." Sonic stood up.

Everyone looked at him.

"It's true that amulet is now useless. That chameleon told me."

"Probably talked to him while he was in a moment of trance." Hikarari whispered to Marie.

Marie nodded slightly.

"I'm serious." Sonic said.

"In what way is it useless?" Marie asked.

"I…don't know." Sonic lowered his head.

"Maybe to the Dark, it is." Misty concluded, "So we still have somewhat a chance."

They turned their heads to face her.

"We can give it a try, otherwise then we're doomed if it _is_ useless." Misty said.

"Now hold on a minute!" Carmen stepped up, "Are you telling me that we're taking a risk that could kill us all?"

"Not kill us." Aaron said, "Mutate us."

"So where do we start then?" Hikarari asked.

"We start by finding Chaos and Espy." Sonic stood up.

------------------

Quazaireon stared at Alexis for a long time now, and still he didn't speak, so he did, "Could you just TELL me what is wrong?"

"Again! We don't know!" Alexis snarled, his eyes quickly turning snake like and fangs quickly growing, "And if you want to know through fighting me, you're wrong!"

Quazaireon only stared at him with a blank face; Ramaindna then stepped in front of him, and put a black blade in front of Alexis' face with a threatening grip on it. Alexis didn't budge, but only tilt his head a little away from Ramaindna's blade.

"Don't cause any problems yet." Ramaindna warned him, "We're on the borderline of getting a head start against the Light, and if you want to ruin it, I guess I'll just take your life." Ramaindna then lightly touched Alexis' nose with the tip, but nothing happened, she smiled a little then, "Course it would be of great use against Misty."

Alexis' eyes returned to normal, and only stared at her. Ramaindna's blade then disappeared, and she let her hand down by her side, and backed off, also staring at him with a warning.

"I do though expect you all to guard Espio." Eggman directed, "For the Emeralds are gone, and may have some energy still left in them."

"What about Sonic?" Tails questioned.

"Don't worry about him." Eggman said to him, "But just in case, his lower hips are weak, attack there if necessary."

"You could've told me in the first place." Knuckles growled, holding his remaining wounded dreadlocks, "Otherwise that female echidna would have never sliced part of my head off."

"And I am sorry for that Knux." Eggman chuckled a little, "But go! For I'm sure he needs protecting."

Shadow then led the group, lastly followed by Alexis, who gave a small glare at Quazaireon. Quazaireon then glared back, but not showing of any concern, for he wasn't worried about Alexis, knowing he is the strongest out of the group of four. Tails was considered the slyest; the ability though wasn't as good as Alexis's speed and power. One thing Ramaindna didn't understand was why was Alexis the strong one, when Shadow should have been, since Shadow was infected first.

----------------------

All of the Emeralds surrounded the three hedgehogs, which surrounded the Master Emerald in the center of the circles. Sonic stared at the Master Emerald for a long time, remembering his times in the past, when no one was really so much in danger, but enough for it to be fun. Fun, to him, was basically ruining Eggman's most brilliant plans, when really they were all a test; at least that's what he thought. He did though feel bad for Shadow, even though they consider each other as rivals, and really haven't spoken to one another, he felt sorry that he became one of them.

Knuckles, the Guardian of the Emeralds, and was a definite hot-head, and always will be, no matter if even a girl enters his life, for his friendship was with not only Sonic, but the first victim of this all, tried to keep his promise, but yet was unable to keep it, though he tried. Although tempered at Marie's actions, though understood, it was for all of our benefits, somewhat.

Tails, of all friends, unaware, had to be next. Innocent at times, but fierce in battle, he had to fall, for even if Marie was to heal him, he would be more than likely attacked again, and he would've mutated later. Later, wasn't a good time either; especially with the conditions of everyone, it wouldn't be best.

His eyes slowly drifted towards Misty, her eyes shut, in a praying manner, speaking silently, silent enough for either Carmen or Sonic to hear her. The things she's done for him, and the things he's done for her and did to her, he not only felt guilty, but sad by the fact that he sensed she had a dark secret, a secret dark enough maybe she herself doesn't know about. He noticed her larger crescent shaped scar, and wondered where in her lifetime she got it, the dullness gave him two ideas.

The first would be a birthmark, one that just won't fade, and one that'll show some darkness lies somewhat in her, if any was. But if darkness did lie in her, it would be most than likely on accident, and in accident, she was held against her own will, and was forced through her. The ideas sounded a bit too drastic, but it was a possibility.

The second, course everyone gets some sort of scar on their adventures, she probably got it on one of hers, the question is though, how, when, and by what. A sword maybe? No, who would be able to make a curve like that? No one he knew at least. An animal? Wait, even though ordinary creatures live here, it doesn't mean others can't. On a mission and something well engraved it into her, they'd probably though would have to be quick to make a deep cut like that.

_You're warm._

Sonic eyes blinked a couple of times startled, then realized it was Misty speaking to him. He quickly relaxed and listened to her in his thoughts.

_The scar was made on a mission I took, but a person, or an object didn't cause it, it is though related to an animal, but not anything you could think of. _

Sonic then had to ask, knowing he had time. _What was it?_

_It's a long story, but I could tell some of it._

Sonic kind of then figured she wasn't going to tell much, since they didn't have time, he opened his eyes, and seen that he stood in a whole different scenery. He rubbed his eyes, and looked around, seeing that he was in an abandoned laboratory floor. Papers everywhere, doors, windows and walls somehow all bloodied up, his face grew stale, and he began to twitch, and quickly became nervous.

He spotted Misty, to his surprise, she was much younger, and equipped with guns, bullets, knives, and two whips all around her waistline, gripping around her black and red vest she wore. Same pants, same necklace and shoes, same hairstyle, but she had no scar across her eye. He was going to _see_ how, not be told how.

She started to walk in a different direction, past a lab room more blank than to others, and disappeared. He quickly ran after her, not sure if she could hear him or see him, but just incase, he called to her just as he whipped the corner.

"Misty! Wait up!"

No reply, she kept walking a slow steady and cautious pace. He fell silent, and didn't bother trying again. He couldn't help himself though look into a lab room, seeing if anything interesting was in there. Nothing to his interest, but only computers, papers, and everyday lab stuff, he seen nothing of importance, for silence was all that sat in the air, along with the smell of blood, and strangely, water.

_**CRASH!!!**_

Sonic shrieked and jumped in fright, and spun around towards Misty. Where shattered glassed had continue to fall, she wasn't there, and he caught the sight of only a small part of a tail whip through the corner. Bullets began to burst, and bounced off of the walls like rubber balls. Sonic quickly ran around and found again a small piece of a tail whip around the corner, but Misty was hiding behind a wall.

"Misty!" Sonic cried out to her.

She again didn't respond, and ran away from him, and he followed with his heart racing rabidly, still spooked up from the loud sudden crash of glass. He felt his hands; as they were gripped tightly into a fist, shake uncontrollably, almost paralyzed by the sound. He continued to trace her steps just feet behind her as she took a corner, and pushed herself through a steel door with a small window. He quickly ran past her, and stopped, as he looked, Misty shut the door behind her, and spun around to talk to the others that sat in the room.

Sonic recognized no one except Misty, the only hedgehog in that room. In that room with her, stood a black and yellowish fox, seems like a younger male, wearing also a weapon belt. He wore a gray hoodie, and blue partly baggy jeans, and dark shoes. His ears were tipped black, and so were his Tails related bangs that hung over his green eyes.

A red-orange echidna walked up, wearing also a gray hoodie, but only had one gun and bullets on him. His fur lightly perked up on his head, blue jeans, and again, dark shoes, his eyes showed up as a dark blue.

A female wolf sat in a chair by a computer. Organic back hair, but burnet front hair that hung around her face with a bit of a flip outwards away from her face. Her glasses tinted her eyes, but barely showed them, it matched her HIM sweatshirt she wore though, along with black jeans that matched. Pretty at that, but somewhat short in Sonic's eyes, he didn't care for short, but he did like her already.

"Well? We heard shooting." The echidna spoke with a bit of a scratch in his voice.

Sonic glanced at Misty and seen she was gasping heavily for air.

"He's freakishly large." Misty told them, "At least I seen him just before he crashed through."

"I thought the glass was stronger than that." The female wolf asked her standing up.

"I guess not." The male fox stated.

"Ace, can you run a system scan and see if there's a way out." Misty asked.

"And if there's not." The female wolf that's so-called Ace mentioned.

"Check if the ventilation system is down. That then would be our only option."

Ace quickly sat back down, and began to do the system scan. And Misty slouched by the door with her right side away from the door. The echidna started walking towards her with caution.

"Stay away Josh." Misty growled.

The echidna did, and backed off.

"I know how you feel about Dallas Misty," Ace tried to support her, "But face it, we won't be able to stop him and save him."

Misty didn't moved from her spot, but she slammed her fist into the door in rage, creating a small dent in the placement of the hit. Sonic course quickly became confused, what was going on?

Misty began to bawl, he eyes flowing with non-stop tears, "I loved him, and this is how I get paid in return? Why has this got to happen!?"

The echidna walked over and kneeled by her, only staring at her while her eyes were closed shut. Ace sighed, and then glanced at the fox.

"Hey Jeff, open that door over there." Ace directed.

He nodded, and opened the door, and peeked through, for only a second he stood, he then turned to Ace. "All clear! We can go!"

Josh shook Misty's shoulder, "Come on, we have to-"

A claw busted through the metal, and made almost a 360 circle, then disappeared, then popped out through the metal higher than the first, just above Misty's head. Misty cried out in pain, grabbing her left eye in agony. Josh was able to catch her just before she landed on the ground, holding her up a little, just enough for blood to rush down Misty's face, and drip on his sweatshirt.

Sonic stood and stared, again startled, but still confused, the question was not yet answered, until Ace spoke up.

"She's infected!" She cried out.

"And we don't even have the antivirus with us!" Jeff reminded.

Josh nodded, "No time! Lets get her out of-"

Misty elbowed him in the gut, and brought herself up, leaving Josh to fall and curl up in pain. Sonic's jaw dropped a little, shocked at Misty's action. Ace and Jeff only stared at her for that moment.

Misty took her hand off of her eye, her hand dripping with blood, soaked with her own blood is what she didn't care for, for the slice across her eye was still bleeding, and continued to drip into her hand. No tears spurted, but a small growl did.

"Misty?" Ace called to her.

She stood up, and let her hand down to her side, and straightened her head, facing the scared up door, and opened her eyes. They were in one piece, but the eyelid looked like it was cut in half. Ace's eyes widened with amazement, and so did Josh's, everyone fell silent.

"Look, everyone just go." Misty directed.

"But, Misty." Ace spoke.

"I said GO!" Misty growled.

Quickly the three ran through the open door, and knowingly, shut the door behind them, leaving Misty, and the sound of the door just about to break.

"Misty! Get out of the way!" Sonic cried out to her.

Forgetting she couldn't hear him, he reached out and tried grabbing her bloody hand, but his hand went straight through hers. He heard the door crash open, and glanced over to see what caused her scar, but then his vision went blank.

_Now you know how my scar came to be._

Sonic opened his eyes, but seen nothing around him, nothing existed, nothing was visible, and it was all darkness.

_It was one of my most despising missions._

Sonic spun around and came face to face with Misty. She glared at him, her scar almost glowing bright red, instead of being a dull cherry color. Sonic stumbled backwards surprised to see her, then regained his steps, and stared at Misty with bewilderment.

"But, what was going on? What was your mission?"

Misty sighed, "You must have been somewhere else when this happened."

Sonic blinked a few times, confused, "Were those your teammates?"

"Not just my teammates," Misty lowered her head and closed her eyes in solitude, "They were friends I cared for."

"What happened to them?" Sonic stood up straight.

"They escaped, I happened to catch on to the train just before it left, but not quickly enough to outrun what caused this scar."

Sonic stared at the scar a bit longer, and then looked at Misty with a tilted head. "So, who's this Dalla-"

Misty quickly gripped his throat and tightened it fiercely; just before Sonic had the chance to finish, "Don't speak his name!"

Sonic's eyes widened a little, and quickly fell silent before he could finish the name. "So who is he?"

Misty loosened her grip only a little, but kept him in her hand, "He was once someone I cared for, he was once someone that I loved so dearly, I'd give my life to be with him. But that changed when my base just _had_ to drag my friends into the mission."

"Who was all with you?" Sonic said, grabbing Misty's wrist and lowering it slowly.

"Him, Ace, Josh, Jeff, Lucas, and Anthony." Misty listed, "We became a small group that grew only a little when I entered their lives, we strangely knew one another, but that was only because of Jeff. Anyways, He, he was known for great computer knowledge, Ace was known for some better abilities than others, Jeff was definitely known for his quickness, Josh and Anthony just wanted to be part of this, Lucas, was known for some scientific things, and I was basically known for surviving any mission thrown at me, and for my great skills, and that's basically they forced me to bring them with me."

"So what was the mission?" Sonic asked still holding her hand loosely.

"The mission was to go to an underground facility, and shut down the main computer." Misty told him, "It was mentioned that some illegal experimentation occurred down there, and that something was released into the facility, killing everyone down there. I was aware that it was a virus, in this case, that wasn't."

"What was it?"

"It was something I'd never thought it was, although I've dealt with some things related to it, but it was also something that turned my only hope into my only fear." She sighed, trying to resist crying, "Of all people! He, of all people, I had to leave behind, when he was really the only thing I had to care for, not just the others. The last time I see him, is when he was all of a sudden bit by what I call a cretin, you never got the chance to see one, but he went to take care of the wound, then that was the last I see him, smiling back at me, telling me that he'll be okay." Misty sniffed a little, then raised her head up and sighed, "If I had the time, I would be able to tell you every single detail, but we don't."

Misty snapped her fingers, and she disappeared from Sonic's sight. Sonic stared at where Misty stood, and sighed, and closed his eyes for that moment. He then reopened them, to find he was back where he was standing.

He glanced at Carmen, who was a shining gold and red color, and glowing, smiling at him. He blinked a few times, and then turned to Misty, who was floating alongside with Carmen, her fur metallic black, but when shown in the light, a tint of both red and blue glimmered. Her red markings were the same way, but blue and black. The flames on her jeans were lively, but alternated between blue and red fire, as it stayed alive around the bottom. Misty also smiled back at Sonic, but with only a small smirk, nothing big.

Sonic then looked at himself, and then realized, that he too, glowing gold, still with gold eyes shining, he too was in his super form.

_I should have never showed him that memory, I realized that just before I was about to allow him to see what attacked me, I felt a bit uneasy when I realized this, and course, I stopped it with the quickest second I had…_

--------------------

I should've made thoughts throughout the story, but I didn't, and I'm sorry.

But, I would like to say that part of her memory is inspired by we all know as Resident Evil (My most favorite movie of all times, the game just scares me though XD) But anyways, the name Ace, Josh, Anthony, Jeff, Lucas, and Dallas, are all names of actual people, one of which is my bf, and he's very sweet, also, we both have alot of likes, very few dislikes, and act kinda the same XD kinda awsome though lol. But the CRASH thing, I wish I could make it larger, but I can't, so just imagine it just sudden, not somewhat expected.

I'm really hoping the story is of great appeal, if you guys like it so much, can you please review? I could really use it, and it's much apreciated if you did . Thanks a bunch ---MTH


	22. Live or Become Mine

**Chapter 22: **

**Live or Become Mine**

"You do realize we only have one shot at this, right?" Misty warned them.

"Yeah, I know." Sonic nodded.

Carmen nodded slightly, saying nothing in reply.

"Just remember, we have to take down the first four others first, then we proceed."

The three hedgehogs gave one another a final nod, then Carmen's intercom flicked on.

"WAIT!" Aaron shouted loudly.

"Huh?" Why?" Carmen replied.

"Someone's been messin' with the ships! They're all basically dead!" Lighter told them, his voice slightly scratched up.

"What!?" all three shouted.

"Everything's been messed with, from the outside in, and when I say outside, I mean a strange mark was left on these ships."

"Quazaireon?" Sonic questioned.

"No actually, nothing like Quazaireon's marks." Lighter pointed out, "The mark seems to have a symbol of a crow or some sort of bird, have any ideas?"

Sonic growled, "I know exactly!"

Lighter paused for a moment, then sighed in distress, "I actually hate to say it, but you three are on your own."

"Wait! What about Marie and her sis?" Carmen asked.

"It's a long story, just go!" Lighter commanded the three, and the intercom flicked off into silence.

--------------------

Back and fourth, back and fourth she paced on the slim edge of a building just feet from Chaos, bored as ever before, but proud of her work. Having to remember she has telepathic ability, she knew what was to come, and she knew what she was here for. Her face showed of no emotion, but her blank smile showed only eagerness of getting this process over with.

"Why wait for me?" the dark deep voice stopped her from behind.

Ramaindna stopped and spun around, and faced Espio, calm, but not in despair. His smirk made her think a little, a thought of too much revenge rolled in. She didn't bother thinking more into it, and turned her head away from him.

"You do realize I won't stop until I get what I need." Espio told her, starting to walk up.

"More as if you want, not need." She growled, "I'm happy for we've struck a hit, but not for the rewards we all need or want. If you jump to the gun too soon, things will get out of hand."

Espio stopped beside her, his pupils quickly shifted to a thinner size, "That was before I realized I was growing."

She said nothing, and she shifted her head away from him. Espio, feeling a mutant instinct rise inside of him, slipped out his tongue and stretched it towards her cheek. She sighed, and growled a little, it leads to no affect towards him backing off. He definitely wasn't going to follow her if he isn't scared. Thinking it through, she slapped her hand around his tongue, and yanked it behind her head, making a painful for Espio to bear, and he fell to his knees with his head up high, facing her. Ramaindna gave a glimpse of a glare at him, and didn't even bother to release his tongue, not until he showed fear.

The plan backfired instantly; Espio gave a quick hiss, and tackled her down with full force, almost causing them both to fall over the edge. He forces his claw-filled hands around her wrists, and made her release his own tongue, that quickly returned into his mouth. His muscles bulge a little, making his arms larger than before, and made his back arch more. Ramaindna released a small growl, making sure he understood, she wasn't afraid.

"No matter what you'll do, I'll overtake you." Espio snarled, his eyes turning snake like.

Ramaindna smiled a little, "I suggest you get back into Chaos." She snapped her fingers, and her body disappeared from his grip.

"You've got a trio of hedgehogs headed your way." Her voice echoed in a distance.

--------------------

Sonic kept his eyes open for any movements, as he led the girls that trailed behind him as they glided above the water with caution. Each had their fists gripped tightly, each had their eyes looking every direction, and each knew two things, mostly Misty though.

The Kiroshioneze of the Dark are their main enemies, for they are now the allies of Eggman. The have dragged him away from machinery, and have now pushed him into genetic mutation, and viral weaponry, these two things are among great tactics, and one of which, is Sonic's biggest difficulty. Misty, as a telepathic, knew Sonic hasn't had much experience with the supernatural, and that's what the Dark also knew. Both knew he's the next generation of a hero, now about to be paced into this war that was soon going to start, the Dark just wanted a head start. By taking one of Sonic's friends, and turning them into blood crazed, raping mutants, is a dreadful thing to deal with, not only have their memories been messed with, but their body as well, now capable of growing, becoming a much fiercer, stronger, and more blood-thirsty, whatever Eggman could do, he had the Dark now by his side.

Espio, one thing has definitely been found, his bloodline leads to the one who originally created the Emeralds, and Chaos, he was the descendent, and he was suppose to never summon Chaos, for only would destruction rise from within the one who summons Chaos. He though, if he wasn't originally the one, they wouldn't be in this mess, as much. Misty, even though she hasn't met him fully, knew instantly there's something else to him, like said before, a mysterious tribe has mixed in with his original tribe, and made a new type of species. She had a broad mind, but her guardian limited her searching. Espio though, no one expected him to be the next victim of Eggman's plan, and they definitely weren't prepared for it. Knuckles tried, and so did everyone else, now they're given one final chance to save him, or slowly, one by one, shall Sonic's friends fall. It would then lead to just Sonic, who would stand alone without help, he would then be forced with darkness, and the injection that would lurk in him from the bites, would rise and transform him into the most powerful creature that the Dark has ever made, then the world itself, would fall and shatter. All three feared this greatly, and equally, they have one chance, which determines their future.

In that instant, Misty took off to the right, running on water at full speed, leaving the other two behind without even taking them with her. Sonic and Carmen spun their heads around to see she was bolting at what looked like a large dragon that spurted up from the water, and spread out it's wings with greatness and divinity. With the wings ten times it's side, this made it looks fast and slick, and both Carmen and Sonic followed after Misty's action.

It dove down, and shoved Misty into the water like an anvil down on a bug, it took her out so fast she didn't know what hit her. Sonic had no other thought in his head but to halt and wait, with Carmen following him, what else does he have to loose?

It spurted out again, with Misty's glowing body revealing the shadowy figure; the figure's true form was no other than Espio himself. But his size grew so dramatically, compared to Misty, she's like a dragon's rider on a dragon at least twenty feet long. The glow she drew out revealed also so much detail on his body that made him fiercer than ever before.

His number of horns tripled in size and numbers, his claws were the side of Misty's lower arms, and his body revealed so much muscle that made him look like the strongest being on Earth. With biceps large as Sonic's thickest quill, and fangs as deep as Carmen's upright ears, the detail made both nearly stumble backwards in shock. It was the fact that he grew so fierce that made Sonic shiver, and that with Chaos in his control, he may actually have to fall with Chaos. The darkness that lied in the creature's eyes made Espio no longer exist.

The thought then made him wonder.

Could his spirit still be alive? Just trapped, with no power to escape this tragedy? It started to come fairly together to Sonic. For every heart has a good and a bad, and even sometimes the bad takes the shape of the normal, and completely makes it to where the old was now only a memory. Sonic couldn't help but believe the fact that Espio no longer exist, all that's left is this creature of the unreal.

Espio howled with a defining screech that nearly made both him and Carmen force them to shift to normal form, since they can only be so strong against such attacks and things. Both barely kept their forms, but seen Misty had shifted to normal, after all, she was practically attached to him. She kept herself calm, but was willing to fight back at him, but the claws that embraced her started to pierce her skin. She couldn't afford to become him, so she sat still.

"Holy crap!" Carmen shouted, "He's freaking huge!"

Sonic gulped, "Bigger than I imagined."

_Sonic…_

Sonic blinked, the deep voice that dared to enter his mind echoed through him more.

_You have no choice but to surrender your life for Misty here, unless you dare to attack me. For both of your lives won't be spared_

_How dare you! _Sonic growled in his thoughts.

_Stupid hedgehog, _Espio's voice echoed again, _you have no chance against me, without Misty, you're practically worthless. With Misty on our side, she'll be mine, and forever will she._

Sonic knew that feeling, Amy of all people seemed to somewhat act that way. He also had the feeling Espio's normal self wasn't going to be able to get through that mutated shield.

"Sonic? Are you okay?" Carmen called to him.

_I suggest you give up Sonic, either way, we will win over you, and soon you'll be thanking me for this._

Sonic's skin then began to burn. The pain struck with a tension that felt as if it won't go away. Sonic quickly fell onto a nearby platform, and shifted to normal, and started to curl up in fetal position. Carmen was just feet away when she was struck by a nearby wave, just trying to help Sonic seems like was out of line.

Sonic cried out with vigorous pain, and the burning deepened.

_Remove that ring! And the burning shall stop._

Sonic growled with frustration, _never in my life!_

_You've bit both Knux and Shadow enough to make your DNA part of me, so I have almost total control over you._

Sonic began to let tears run down his face, "Just please! Stop!"

_Not until you remove that ring!_

Will it save Misty and let Carmen escape was the question.

--------------------

Conore dug his head into the ships and tried his best to fix them to work, at the moment, no luck have lured on to their side, not with Ramaindna's curse mark on them.

"Conore, maybe we should attend to the marks?" Marie suggested.

"Go ahead, I'm busy looking at the wiring." Conore waved at her to go.

Hikarari sighed, "Come on, we should probably stay in contact with the three just in case?"

"We can't." Tails stepped in from the Nightstar, "They too have the mark."

Marie slapped her forehead, "If I hear that there's another mark on another thing that's important, I swear to-"

"I got it!" Lighter shouted from the Nightstar. "I got it, I got it, I got it!"

"The ship?" Conore wondered taking out his grease-covered face.

Lighter danced outside with his face brightly smiling, and with the Nightstar roaring behind him, "It works!"

Conore smiled, "Great, now let's see if we can get these running."

Hikarari grabbed his wrist, "We don't have time."

--------------------

"Leave me alone!" Sonic roared.

_Not until that ring is removed._

Sonic's arms began to grow, quickly he glanced to see, and they were growing fast.

_If you won't take off the ring, then I'll do the mutating myself._

"SONIC!" Carmen cried out behind a water barrier.

Sonic's heartbeat began to pick up pace, and his whole body started to extend and grow, his stomach began to thicken and become abs almost the size of Espio's. The burning sensation began to dissipate, and quickly he fell on his side, still trying to resist Espio's control.

_Surrender now!_

Sonic tried to speak, but his voice had already changed, and now became loud scampering screeches like Espio's. He had no idea what he was forcefully shifting into, he figured Espio was trying to get inside of him, and control him instead.

Sonic's breathing increased in speed, but no voice trying to speak in between. At the same time, he heard his ring shatter into pieces.

Immediate forces budged into his body, and all in less than five seconds, his body mutated to almost an exact copy of Espio. Muscles many times bigger, size bigger, and his mind now gone, his eyes no longer gold, now pure black from the inside out. Carmen's face instantly turned pale, and began to bang against the barrier to break free. Misty's face also turned pale, she knew they were doomed.

Espio slowly descended near Sonic, and dropped Misty just feet away from him, and lastly mutated to his normal form. Misty glanced at Carmen, seeing they both met with their eyes in fear, both were scared they now have no more of a chance.

Espio then lightly set his hands on Misty's shoulders, "You see Misty, and you now have no hope. I can spare your life, but in return, you would serve me, and be my desire-"

"ENOUGH!"

Espio flicked his head upwards to see Ramaindna drop down from above, her face now in great anger, "I now draw the line, Sonic was to be used _later_, not _now_!"

Espio clinched Misty harder, "That's because they had a chance."

"So what!" Ramaindna hollered, "Quazaireon is also pissed, and so is Eggman, Misty I don't mind having her, but Sonic is for last!"

Misty then felt Espio shove her to the ground face down, and felt his hands hold her down on her back, with Espio growling vigorously, "You just step away from my prey."

Ramaindna sighed, "So what if I piss off Demeortris, it was needed."

Her hand lit up with dark multi-colored fire, and slammed it against Espio's body, sending him flying into the building behind him not far.

Misty glanced at her with amazement, "I thought you were-"

Ramaindna snapped her fingers, and both the ring and Sonic returned to normal, and the barrier around Carmen disappeared, "I suggest you go, take care of Chaos!"

"But-"

"Espio actually _still_ lies inside of Chaos, I don't have time to explain, just take Carmen and Sonic and get out of here!"

"Misty! Come on!" Carmen dragged Misty.

Misty grabbed Sonic and the ring, and took one final look at Ramaindna, she was speechless, and for she still couldn't believe she helped her, Sonic, and Carmen.

"Thanks, I owe you one." Misty thanked her.

Ramaindna let out a small smile and slightly nodded, and watched as Misty shifted to her super form, and flew away. Carmen gave her a small stare in confusion, still not understanding why to run away, but ran off anyways. Hearing the screech from the fowl beast she sent off for that moment, she spun around and stood, ready to fight him off.

_That was one thing I'll never forget, first, Sonic being forcefully mutated, and then Ramaindna saves us? I understand the first, but the second…_

_I also didn't expect Espio to STILL be inside Chaos, that was another shocking thing I thought about, how could that be Espio, when what held be in a desperate grasped was his somewhat normal form…_

_Now that that's out of the way, now we can actually get on with the plan that we've been waiting to do, kill Chaos, and save Espio…_


	23. A Final Dilemma

**Chapter 23: **

**A Final Dilemma**

Both Misty and Carmen took the keeled over hedgehog to safety, and away from the two. Both were still amazed at Ramaindna's action to help them escape, but one question lurked in their minds, if Espio's in Chaos, then what was that that nearly killed Sonic's soul by force?

They landed on top of a short building, and backed up to give Sonic breathing space, and for the time being, no life seems to lurk beneath his skin.

Misty whined a little and sat by a boulder nearby in both caution and fear. After seeing what happened she felt uneasy about his soul even being recalled, if it has ever yet. Carmen started to feel the same way, and backed up a little next to her, all was then quiet. Too quiet.

Misty looked at the ground in boredom, and quickly realized that a shadow was shading them. She blinked, and poked Carmen without a word. Carmen only glanced at her, and looked at the shadow Misty calmly pointed at. Both stared at it for a moment, Carmen didn't have any idea; she knew it was the building behind them. Misty disagreed greatly, and noticed that it moved.

A loud roar shattered the silence with great intensity, and scared the two from behind. Both spun around to see Chaos towering above them, bigger than before. The girls were astounded, but Misty ended up running away and tried frantically to wake up Sonic.

"SONIC!" Misty freaked, "GET UP YOU STUPID HEDGEHOG! GET UP!!!"

She didn't even bother what Carmen was shouted behind her, for Sonic to her was really more important than anything at the moment. She circled him, head butted him, bit him, burned him, did whatever she could, and nothing worked.

"I suggest you back away from him." A familiar deep voice told her.

Misty glanced up to find Espio standing in front of her on the other side of Sonic's body. She stared, with nothing in mind what to do, but whine.

Espio began to walk towards her and his eyes glowed a bright white, forcing Misty to shift to her normal form. Stepping over Sonic, he made her walk backwards towards Carmen.

"If only you spotted me sooner." He smiled.

"What was the deal with that imposter?!" Carmen growled.

Espio's expression quickly changed, "Imposter?"

Misty blinked and glared at Carmen, "I dun think he knows."

Espio only then stared at the two.

Carmen shot out a glare and tried again, "Huge black evil creature, 'bout almost the size of this building top with wings out."

Espio only continued to stare.

Misty sat for a moment and thought for a little.

_If Espio doesn't know what that was, then that means that was sent on command by something else. But then how could he forcefully shift Sonic into almost an identical mutant as of it was? Could Quazaireon and Ramaindna finally be at one another's throat? And how in hell do I know that that black hedgehog's named Ramaindna???_

Misty blinked again, and stared up at Espio, "You have no idea, at all?"

He shook his head and crossed his arms.

"This is bad."

"What is?" Espio asked.

Misty smirked, "Your old enemy."

Espio then felt a dramatic punch in the back, and flew almost into the two girls as they split into two different directions. He slid almost to the edge, and stopped to try and get up. Misty and Carmen turned their heads to see a gold hedgehog standing only a few feet from them.

Misty smiled and jumped in happiness, "He's alive!"

Sonic smiled, "Come on girls, we've got mutants to stop."

Both nodded, and both quickly shifted to their super forms and scampered away. Espio finally got up on his hands and knees and let out the powerful screech he still carries. Neither Carmen nor Sonic were affected, but Misty nearly plummeted to the bottom because of the screech. Both slowed down to see her covering her ears in agony, it was unbearable to her ears.

"You okay Misty?" Sonic called to her.

"I don't get it!" Misty growled with fury, "Why am I forced to shift, why am I the one to hear the screech, and why am I his next target to the Dark?"

Carmen sighed, "Aren't we all?"

Sonic shook his head, "Nah, Misty kinda does have a point, they want to kill me, and they want her on the Dark."

Carmen nodded.

Chaos roared with fury, and melted into the water below, and only a slight intend in the water signaled his presence.

Misty quickly caught up with Carmen and Sonic, "Remember, we also got Alexis, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow to save, so lets take care of them-"

Quickly she spotted Alexis diving down at them, and she shoved between them to go after him in her firefox form, but remained in super formation, with fire alive where her markings lurked, and fire flickering from her wings as she flew. Both Alexis and Misty dove down towards the water, and then disappeared behind a building nearby.

"Looks like we're splittin' different directions." Carmen said.

"Can you take care of Tails? Knowing how quick and nippy he is?" Sonic asked her.

"No fox ain't gonna slow me down, sure thing." Carmen smiled.

Sonic pointed downwards, "Below us."

Carmen glanced downwards, and noticed Tails was bolting upwards at them. Carmen screamed a little and flew out of the way. She then glared at Sonic, "Maybe a sooner warning would help."

Sonic waved to her, "Happy hunting."

Carmen quickly gave him the finger, and went after Tails, chasing him down the opposing direction Misty took with Alexis. He hovered for a moment, looking around for Knuckles and Shadow, no luck. He quickly heard snarling above him, and spotted Knuckles and Shadow diving down at him. He smiled and charged upwards.

----------------------

Lakia played around with her iPod as she sat next to Aaron, who watched Conore work hard to try to make the other ships work.

"Consey." Aaron called to him, "Look, the mark has practically killed the ships, lets just go in the Nightstar and help the three."

"Not with everyone else on board." Conore said as he jumped out of Lighter's ship, "If we take the Nightstar and fly it near Chaos, chances are, we'll all go down if he gives a good smack at us."

"True." Lakia said, "I mean, I wouldn't mind staying back and taking care of the people, I mean Kris is here, so why not?"

Aaron nodded.

"Look at Charmy for example." Conore explained, "He's prayin' for Misty and the other two to save Espio, and Misty and the other two are prayin' for us to be safe and to still be as one since they left. We really can't afford everyone's life to be at risk."

Both nodded.

"I'd be happy to take them along to keep them away from the rest of the Dark, but it's just too risky with Espio in control of Chaos."

"One question," Aaron spoke up, "Isn't that Misty and Alexis?"

Lakia stopped fiddling and stared up, along with Conore, and both spotted Misty frantically dodging Alexis' attacks.

Conore quickly became outraged, "God damn it! She had to drag Alexis along!"

"Where's Marie?" Lakia asked with a suggestive voice.

Aaron quickly stood up and cupped his mouth, "Marie! Get you're high-tailin' butt over here now ASAP!"

Lakia stared at him for a moment, "Why so angry."

"What comes around goes around." Marie said as she ran past her.

Conore pointed at Misty and Alexis, "Do you have anything to take care of Alexis?"

"Actually, no." Marie lowered her head.

"What?" Aaron shrieked.

Marie spun around and gripped his neck, "Would you two just cool it, and I know Misty's near of actually breaking the virus."

"What do you mean by that exactly?" Aaron questioned, "And get your hands off of my neck."

Marie released him, "Just watch, and be prepared to run after them as they fall."

Lakia blinked a few times, "What?"

They heard Misty in the distance, "A little help here people!"

Marie shrugged, "Although I guess now's a good time."

The four grouped up and ran towards Misty and Alexis, who were still fighting.

"Don't just stand there! Do something!" Misty cried out, dodging Alexis' attacking bite.

Marie stared up at the two for a moment, and then drew out a dart gun smaller than an average handgun, but yet powerful it was with loaded darts.

Conore looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "I thought you didn't have anything."

"That was before I realized he has a wound." Mare said as she aimed. "Lakia, I'm gonna need you for this one."

Lakia set her iPod in her pocket and drew out another dart gun similar to Marie's, and loaded it with the dart she was given, and aimed at Alexis' wound he had on his backside.

"On my mark." Marie told her.

Misty stared at then for just a second, and then was taken hold of by Alexis. Quickly she panicked.

"Now!"

The dart guns let out two huge bang noises in the air, and both hit the wound Alexis had. Quickly Alexis released Misty and like Espio, let out a loud screech. Misty didn't act quickly enough to cover her ears, and ended up falling to the ground. As she did, Conore shifted to his werefox form, and darted after Misty as she fell, and as she lost her super formation as she was still in her firefox form. Just fee away, Conore jumped and caught Misty above his stomach, and slide across the ground on his back, holding Misty tightly until they came to a stop.

Misty looked up at him, "Quite the hero you'll soon be."

Conore glared down at her, "Quite the idiot you'll always be."

"Guys, get over here!" Lakia shouted to them.

Conore pushed Misty to the side off of his chest, and bolted back, followed by Misty who tried to catch up to him from behind.

"I'm hopin' those darts took effect." Misty hoped.

The two quickly stopped to see Alexis in front of them, no longer in his mutant form. Conore only stared down at him, but Misty's eyes shrunk a little, and she fell with a large smile on her face, "He has been saved!"

Marie also stood shocked, and looked at Aaron, "Go tell Yorkster that it worked, and that we'll need several other doses."

Aaron nodded and quickly ran off back towards the Nightstar.

------------------

"You'll never escape!" Shadow hissed while tailing Sonic.

Sonic bounced from building to building, trying to lose the dreadful ones behind and find Carmen, he was practically wishing that he had Tails and Knuckles, and while Carmen had Shadow. But no, he got stuck with both Knuckles and Shadow again, and had to do something about it.

Would he be safe shifting to his mutant form? Though the ring's been shattered once, the last time a crystal's been shattered, it reversed the process, he wondered if the same thing would happen, even though the ring he wore has been restored. His mind clicked a few times, and then remembered that Ramaindna restored the ring, so it could be reversed. He then agreed, don't even think about taking the ring off.

Striking pressure in the chest then hit him.

He felt his stomach roll, and he quickly felt ill, and lost his super form. In that instant, his sight was blinded by darkness, lastly seeing strangely Shadow and Knuckles flying away. After his sight failed him, he felt nothing. Not even his own sweat under the gloves he wore abrasively.

He blinked a few times, and found himself standing in pure darkness. Nothing was in his sight. Nothing was to hear. Nothing was alive. Nothing. Quickly he felt chilled by the fact he all of a sudden was in darkness. He blinked again, and on his final blink, he found himself in a dark and mist-filled forest. Quickly he glanced around to see nothing was about, except the sound of a small breeze, and crows scampering around him. His fur stood up a little in fear, for he had no idea what was happening.

He began to walk with caution, and with his arms crossing one another to keep his warmth around him, and made sure his back was against the wind as he went with it. Over logs and by big trees he slowly walked. The breeze stopped, and the crow's callings have faded behind him. Everything then became silent.

"Sonic."

Sonic howled in surprise, and spun around with his fists up in a boxing position, but his body shaking a little. His gold eyes narrowed on the voice's source, and watched him with panic, wondering whether to run or fight. The figure then came clear, and there, standing before him, was the one that he was to save.

"Espio?!" Sonic's eyes widened with amazement.

"I haven't seen you in a while." Espio said crossing his arms that spurted out mysterious scars.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Sonic questioned, lowering his fists.

"You're basically in a nightmare is what I call it." Espio said, his eyes narrowing Sonic down.

"A nightmare?" Sonic blinked, "If it was a nightmare, then how come I see you as a normal–"

"That's the problem." Espio said, "we're normal on the inside. But outside–"

"Our souls are trapped, and really…" Sonic's jaw quickly dropped.

Where Sonic and Espio stood, is where their souls were staying.

------------------

"What do you mean you can't find Sonic?" Carmen shrieked.

"No one can find him anywhere!" Lakia smacked her hand down on the table, "We've looked everywhere."

"Well Sonic couldn't just have disappeared to nowhere!" Carmen growled, "My ass was being chased by freaking savagely crazed Tails that's sittin' with Alexis over in that room!"

"Would you two just shut up?!" Alexis snarled in irritation.

The two girls quickly silenced.

Misty spun her head around, "Alexis?"

"What are you doin' up?" Marie growled a little.

"Look, if we just shut up and just browse one more time for Sonic, maybe we may find at least a clue." Alexis advised.

"I actually agree with him." Conore nodded, "One more scan."

"What if we run into the other two?" Vector questioned.

"We'll then do what we did with Tails and Alexis, which by the way, Get Back To Bed!!" Conore hollered.

Alexis stared for a moment, then walked off back into the room he was standing in. Lakia and Carmen sighed.

Misty then bounced on top of the table in her fox form, "Shall we?"

A loud banging sound then pierced the air just above Misty's head. Quickly the group gathered by the computer, and once again, Eggman rang in, scaring Yorker the second time.

"Hahahahahaha!" Eggman laughed.

"Meep?" Misty spun her head around.

Conore and Aaron's ears went back in irritation, and everyone spun around with Misty to see Eggman laughing at them in spite.

"What now do you have for us?" Rouge crossed her arms and leaned against the wall nearby.

"Ha! You're done for this time!" Eggman laughed again, "Sonic's no longer able to control himself, for the cravings that my mutants have, have now came into effect, and now have thrown Sonic's soul in encasement, where it'll be almost impossible to bring him back."

Misty's eyes shrunk in fright.

"That though may have not been part of the plan, but we can switch things up a bit." Eggman sneered, "Just try and kill two birds with one stone on this!"

The screen went blank.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaah!" Misty shrieked.

"Great, now Sonic's got Espio's flu, the cravenosis." Aaron complained.

Conore stared at the group for the moment, then his mind flicked on, and his ears popped back up.

"What is it Conore?" Hikarari glanced at him.

"Is Tails okay yet?" Conore smirked.

Misty blinked, "That look."

"What do you have planned?" Carmen turned to him.

"Yorkster, you okay?"

Yorker slowly got up in irritation, "Yeah why?"

"Misty?"

Misty quickly started growling, "Naha, you're not making me go out there, I don't want to go through the blood craving deal! That's how Espio is able to control my shifting!"

"I know." Conore's smirk then turned almost into an evil grin.

Yorker then stood up, "What's the damn plan man?"

"Aaron, go into the back and grab me those bands I've told you about, the one's similar to what we've got on our wrist, the one's that resist."

------------------

Ramaindna stepped into the control room, where Eggman was sitting, staring at the screen in front of him, with scars from head to toe.

Eggman spun around and stared at her, "What happened to you."

"We're not alone." Ramaindna growled, waving her fingers towards her, and what came floating in was what looked like Espio, trying to break from the invisible restraints.

"What do you mean, that's Espio!" Eggman stood up.

Ramaindna forced her hand forward, and shoved the chameleon into the ground with a bang to the head, "That's the point."

Eggman stared, "But-"

"I know him, and he's better than the last one." She growled again, keeping her fist up, "He's on our side, he just wanted to have fun with the others."

"She is telling the truth," the chameleon hissed.

"Who is he?" Eggman asked.

"Names of no importance."

Ramaindna gripped her fists tightly, making the restraints squeeze the chameleon tighter, "Just tell him you stupid son of a gun."

The chameleon growled, "Let me shift out of Espio's skin and I will."

Ramaindna loosened her grip, but knew better then to actually release him. The chameleon grew more frustrated, and then shifted, still a chameleon, but pure black, with the tan mussel, but dark gray eyes, almost silver. His clothes only revealed splinters of purple, but otherwise black, and triple horned.

"Who are you?" Eggman sat back down.

Ramaindna released the chameleon, and backed off just a little, the reptile then got onto his feet, and smiled a little at Eggman, "The Demon Phoenix's messenger, Hasanik."

"Hasanik, huh." Eggman rocked back and forth, "Messenger of the Demon Phoenix, never knew he had a messenger."

"He has ten." Ramaindna adjusted, "He's the few that actually are stupid and smart at the same time."

Hasanik growled at her comment.

"So why are you here?" Eggman asked.

"The great one has summoned me to send you a message, so along the way, I paralyzed Espio, and decided to play around with the three hedgehogs, until she came around and ruined the fun."

"How on earth were you able to make Sonic shift by force?" The dark hedgehog asked him, "I can't even do that, and I'm his head associate."

"That was because I've now been made head manager of the body curse assortment." He grinned.

"What is that may I ask?" Eggman inquired.

"An assortment of shifters that have the best ability of using the opponents body and making it become us. Or in simple statement, changes the heart's mind and body in our way."

"Doesn't sound too bad at least to them." Ramaindna yawned.

"That's because they don't realize that we can insert ourselves and become them." He grinned. "We kill their soul as our's are in their body."

Eggman sat up, "So if you were Espio…"

"He's still alive, just a bit stiff." He reminded.

"Okay, enough with the haha-I-have-something-you-don't deal, what's the message?" Ramaindna growled.

"Ah yes." Hasanik smiled, "The great one has a request."

"What's the catch?" Eggman sat back.

"You have to have Espio mutate into a much fiercer beast then what he is now, plus, do the same to Sonic." He stated, "Even though that was my work."

"What!!!" Ramaindna flipped.

"I was a bit sick and tired of seeing Sonic wander with that ring on his finger, so why not?"

Ramaindna grew pissed.

"Then sure I will." Eggman nodded.

"The deal is to completely wipe out Motor City, and before that, catch Misty. For some reason, he has his deepest part of his mind on her." Hasanik stared at the ground for a moment.

"I wonder if he realizes that this blackhead is a jackass." She mumbled to herself.

Hasanik turned and faced her, "Why so irritated?"

She said nothing.

"I'll be right back." Eggman said as he passed her.

The door then shut behind her, leaving Eggman outside of the room.

Hasanik then walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Sorry I hurt you."

Ramaindna's silence broke, "Get off of me now."

Quickly her wounds healed by Hasanik, and he moved her against the wall, "Now come on, I'm just one step to becoming what you are."

She stared at him, "Mean's I'm a widow doesn't give you the right to handle me. This is you're last warning."

He smirked, "Does it look like I care?" He then pressed his lips with hers and moved his hands onto her arms, and held her. She broke the kiss and sucker punched him, kicked him into Eggman's chair, then shifted to a crow and started pecking at his head.

"Ouch!" He cried out while trying to protect his head, "Come on! Can't you just for once cool it and let me be yours?"

"For the last fuckin' time stop hitting on me!" Her crow form spoke with anger.

------------------

The Nightstar hatch opened, and Misty poked out her head and looked around to see nothing was about. She shook in dread, and took one last gulp, then slowly stepped out, her white face flicking back and forth as she walked to the tip of the ship, and waited for something to pop up. Nothing.

She sighed, "If we ever get out of this I swear." She then lifted her nose and barked non-stop.

Tails, now normal, then poked his head out, and waited until something was to fly by and attack her. His arms wounded from strikes that hurt, and to make him fall, he remembered what he saw.

He flew after her, snarling and howling to get her, until she spun around and gave a hard punch into the face, and then flew away again. Quickly he followed her to catch up, and then was back on her tail again. He was able to get a grip around her ankles, then yanked her back while shifting to his normal form, and then shoved her into the ground below them. Pinning her down, he hissed, and claws wrapping around the wrist, right on top of the arteries. S sudden howl came from behind and tackles him down, and smashing him into the wall, he blinked a few times to see he was being held up by Conore as a werefox. His eyes showing dominance, and strength, were kept in front of him, as he snarled to show he was the boss. He felt he had a chance, and attacked him with his rear claws, then tackled him down, and both went into a fight in a ball.

He heard behind the sound of them scampering around, Marie shouting to Lakia to quickly get over. Just a few second later, two gunshots pierced the air, and just moments later, and his soul began to lift.

"Tails!" Misty cried out, "Get your furry ass over here!"

Tails blinked, then looked at where Misty stood, seeing something large, and fierce just by the blackness, for he didn't even realize it was around midnight. Misty then started running towards him.

"Go man go!" Misty said as she pasted by.

Tails waved to Yorker who was below him, then both jumped out and mutated.

Misty Jumped into the hatch, and shut it behind her, then quickly hid under the bench Carmen and Alexis sat on, and started to coward in fear. The two glanced below them to see her freaking out.

"He's freakin' huge man!" Misty cried out, "He's the size of the world record's largest vulture!"

Aaron looked at Conore, "What's Tails and Yorks doin' anyways?"

"You'll see." Conore smirked, "After hearing Eggman's last comment, what if we were to change the phrase a little."

Loud banging, roaring, howling, and screeching sounds shot around above their heads everywhere. Everyone fell silent and waited, until they knew it was safe. It was at least five minutes until it was silent.

"Beans Misty's scared to death, Aaron?" Conore glanced at him.

"Sure thing buds." Aaron quickly then climbed up to the hatch, and peaked out.

"Anything?" Marie asked.

"Quick man! They've got him pinned!" Aaron hurried them.

Marie and Lakia shot across the floor and up the ladder, Aaron though stood by the entryway and waited. Few seconds later, two gunshots echoed through the metal.

"We've got him." Alexis said.

Misty then bolted up the ladder, and looked out.

There, on the Nightstar, was Tails and Yorker, shifted to normal, holding the blue hedgehog, Sonic. She stared at the hedgehog with a blank expression, though he was shifted to normal, she still felt unsafe.

_I swear! If that happens again, I'll go into a rampage, and I mean a serious one…_

_Ahem, anyways, we're still kinda curious of who the Espio faker was, but I have a bad feeling about it, as if it's someone dealing with another, and, well, it's kinda confusing…_


	24. Finally, the Final Finale

**Chapter 24: **

**Finally, the Final Finale**

Quazaireon walked in the control room, whistling happily as if something good has happened, then spotted Hasanik cornered by Ramaindna's blue flames, and tied up with duct tape over his mouth. Ramaindna seemed definitely happy, for she sat in Eggman's seat reading.

"May I ask what happened?" Quazaireon stared at Hasanik.

"Love-boy over there's been raping me." Ramaindna joked.

"Haha very funny." Quazaireon laughed sarcastically, "Now just tell me what happened."

"Fine." Ramaindna sighed, "He wasn't raping me, he was pecking my head."

Hasanik growled and tried to speak through the tape, but couldn't.

"The Phoenix won't be happy about this." Quazaireon sighed as he walked over and freed the black chameleon.

"Meh, as long as he's in that spot or further away from me, I'm fine." She commented.

"Look Ramaindna," Hasanik wiped his mouth in pain, "Just admit it, you want me."

"Nope, I don't." She said without moving from her placement in the book.

"Wait, what's this about?" Quazaireon blinked a few times.

"He's a stalker." She commented again, "he's just staying here because he's wanting to watch me in more action."

"It turns me on." Hasanik shrugged.

Quazaireon growled then smacked him in the back of his head, "Would you knock it off! We're in business here do you not see, not a love shack do you not see?"

Hasanik scratched his head. "Well…"

"Get back to your post before I make you weapon cleaner!" Quazaireon ordered.

Hasanik growled a little, and then disappeared from their sight.

"You know, you could've called me over when he showed up."

She sighed, "He made Sonic into one of us you know."

Quazaireon fell silent.

"It's true."

Quazaireon snorted in rage, "That damn son of a bitch of pissness."

Ramaindna raised an eyebrow and let out a small amused grin, "Pissed?"

------------------------

Misty kept poking at the blue hedgehog for some time now.

"Sonic."

"Misty would you leave him alone?" Vector asked her.

"Can't do that, he needs to wake, we still got Espio, Shadow, and Knux to deal with." Misty stated, "Speaking of which, I wonder what they're planning right now."

"Probably to track us down and kill us would be one thing." Rouge said.

"Or just to freakin' slow us down again." Lakia said irritated.

"That or one of us becomes a mutant again." Charmy shook a little.

Misty finally stopped poking Sonic after seeing him barely move his arm. But afterwards, the movement stopped, as if poking him was the only thing allowing him to move. Misty paused and sat of a moment, and waited.

------------------------

Sonic walked with Espio for a long time, both trying to figure out what to do. Stubborn Sonic was at, looking around to see if there was any sign of a way to escape. All there was though was forest, forest that seemed to last forever. Espio seemed content, and didn't even bother do what Sonic was doing.

"What are you doin' Espio?" Sonic waved his arms.

"It's useless, it's forest all around us." Espio stated, "If anything, all we'll be doing is walking until we die. So screw it."

Sonic clinched his fists in anger, "You've changed man. You usually don't let things like this slide, but now you do?"

"Look! We're both stuck here until something outside of here happens, and that could vary a-" Espio's voice quickly ceased, as if the mute button has been pressed, nothing came out of his mouth.

Sonic stared, "Haha, very funny, now would you continue already?"

Espio stared at him for that moment.

"Speak up man, I don't have all-"

Espio's body then quickly turned black, then it disappeared from Sonic's sight. Sonic stopped, and stared at where Espio once stood. After that, everything else around him went black.

"Now what's going on?" Sonic crossed his arms in irritation.

Silence went around, and nothing replied to his comment.

"Um, this is bad." Sonic sloughed a little.

"Sonic!"

Sonic jumped a little and fling his body around to find the wench hedgehog Ramaindna standing right behind him. Her arms crossed, and with a stare that showed anger, but not towards him.

"You!" Sonic growled.

"Now hold it." She paused him, "right now you better consider yourself lucky."

"Why?" Sonic growled again.

"Where you and Espio were at was about to transport you into the Spirit Graveyard, and of all people, and of any of all situations, I couldn't allow it."

"So why are you helping me?" Sonic settled down.

"The messenger of the Dark, interfered with your soul's placement, and finally found out how to break your soul from your body. So, in spite that you're not needed, I'm fixing it."

"But-"

"No buts, and don't mention this to anyone. Also, I think after you return to your mind, Espio will be a whole lot easier to defeat."

Sonic raised an eyebrow, "Why so?"

She smiled, "Because I saved his soul from banishment also, but means that Quazaireon's curse lurks within his blood, I'm going to go and take care of it. You, just focus on destroying Chaos."

Her fingers snapped, and his sight quickly dimmed.

"…onic…sonic…Sonic!" The voice of Misty finally came through his head.

Sonic blinked a few times, then opened his eyes fully, and found himself outside by the Nightstar. Misty, in her super hedgehog form, stood by him and smiled a little, and the same thing was with Carmen when he looked.

"'Bout time you woke up." Carmen smiled.

"Come on man, we've got a ninja to save." Misty grinned.

Sonic shook his head a little, "What happened?"

"Really, nothing important," Carmen answered, "Now hey, let's go and get on with it!"

Sonic stood up, a bit dizzy at first, but then was able to regain his balance back. He then seen his reflection in a puddle to his right, and noticed he was glowing gold, instead of having red eyes, like he normally does, he still had the gold that were imbedded into his eyes. He let out a small smile; now knowing they once again have a stronger chance. He turned and nodded towards the girl hedgehogs, and all three bolted off. Following them was the Nightstar, running greatly, no mistake was missed, and it also bolted in their direction, leaving some of Sonic's friends and the other ships behind.

------------------------

Ramaindna flashed in front of the doorway that lead to the experiment room, and quickly pressed in the password. Roughly the door opened, and stopped with a bang of metals bounding. She walked in and swung her head up and down, left and right, looking for something in particular.

The room held glassy, large liquid-filled capsules, with tubes lingering on the top and bottom inside. Ten of them were in the room, and only one was filled. Spotting it right when she set foot inside, she ran towards it to find something she didn't expect.

A turquoise shade colored its skin, in a chameleon form, and curled up in a fetal position, with wires and tubes attached to it. Eyes shut, fists clenched, she felt it was safe. Still stunned at the look, she kneeled down and checked the label to see what see was looking at, and it was then a greater surprise to her. She then noticed it was Eggman's handwriting, and it read:

_1893573 Copy of Espio the Chameleon_

_Codename: Project Serenity_

"Project Serenity?" Ramaindna questioned herself, standing up straight and walked back a few steps, "Why would Eggman want a copy of Espio? What good would it come from it?"

A familiar voice echoed behind her, "Oh many good things."

She spun around, "I thought you've gone back you dick?"

Hasanik was standing right in front of her when she spun around, arms crossed and his smile bigger than ever. Ramaindna grew annoyed and spun back around at the so-called Project Serenity. She stared at it with fury, still not quite sure what to do.

"It was suppose to be none of your business anyways." He sneered.

"What's the use?" Ramaindna growled a little, "I find things out later."

"This is something you shouldn't be messing with." He warned her, "Besides, it has some of your blood in it."

Her minded flicked from fury to destructible wrath, hearing that some of her blood was stolen for this project. Her intention of killing him was almost all the way, until she realized what he just said.

"My blood huh." She quickly calmed herself down.

"Made Serenity much more fiercer I know that." Hasanik went on.

She grinned, "Was my blood the only thing you could use for this?"

"Actually, no, it was just the best."

She looked at the panel that was begging her to see, and seen that the status was normal, and even told her on the screen "Releasing Ready."

"You okay hun?" He blinked and asked.

Quickly she slapped the button that called to her. The doors then shut behind the two, and the room alarm went off in a heartbeat.

"What in the world do you think you're doing?" Hasanik cried out.

"You're such the dumbass for placing my blood in Serenity!" Ramaindna recalled.

The liquid in the capsule quickly drained, and the alarm died down after Ramaindna punched in another password. Hasanik stood frightened at her and quickly took many steps back away from her.

"What do you even have in mind?" he said in fear.

"This has no right being in here." She pointed.

The glass casing was pulled up into the metal top, and some of the green liquid drained out from the sides, leaving Serenity there, still attached to the wires and tubes from the top and bottom. Ramaindna turned around and stared at the creature for a moment, still unable to understand what it truly was. Hasanik, on the other hand, seen an advantage, and quickly leaped and tackled her to the ground.

"Damn you!" Ramaindna screeched in shock.

Hasanik then pinned her to the ground with his back turned to Serenity, "You're the dumbass if you ask me."

Ramaindna's eyes glowed purple while they stared eye-to-eye, "Well pinning me down won't get you anywhere."

He then raised an arm and took out behind his trench coat, a bottle of solution. Ramaindna stared at him, now seeing that he had what she was looking for.

"Think you're going to save Espio without the antidote huh?" He sneered.

She growled a little.

"Guess again." He mocked, as his eyes changed color to a hot red.

Ramaindna didn't bother growling again, and lied there helpless. Quickly Hasanik grabbed her amulet that wrapped around her neck, and ripped it off, then tossed it to the side, out of her reach. He then lowered his head, preparing to bite her.

He then felt claws draw into his back, and he released Ramaindna forcefully, then was pulled backwards, and flung into a capsule across from him. Glass shattered everywhere, and the liquid spilled out, covering him, and Ramaindna's backside. Quickly she stood and looked at Hasanik's near lifeless body, as blood started to raid the fluid. She stared, and watched as he barely moved, and disappeared from sight. She stood up fully, and stared a little longer.

She then heard footsteps splash behind her, and her eyes looked behind her body to find the very thing she released. It also stood up, still attached, and still in the center of the capsule, the chameleon stared at her for a moment, and then smiled briefly. The eyes that were once closed, were an amazing and beautiful ocean blue, and the markings that trailed on its body's arms and legs were brighter blue, but a beautiful color that glowed all over. One small horn stuck out, and the tail was uncurled and whip-like.

Ramaindna's jaw dropped, "You…you…"

It blinked at her, "Saved your life?" The voice flew in a female tone that seemed as deep as Ramaindna's, but more smooth and enlightening.

Ramaindna's jaw dropped even further, "You're a female?!"

She nodded a little.

"But…but Eggman…"

Serenity's eyes glowed a brighter blue, and she sprung out of the capsule's center, and yanked herself free from the wires and tubes that attached to her. Some of the blood flinted out of the tubes and from her skin after having enough for her need, scattering all along the floor a little and some of the fluid. Ramaindna continued to stare in amazement as Serenity walked up to her and crossed her arms lightly.

"Why would Eggman create you?" Ramaindna said while still a bit surprised, "You look to damn ancient looking to-"

"That's what it is." Serenity stopped her, "Eggman didn't create me."

Ramaindna then quickly fell confused, "Then how come on the label-"

"Mind control." She smiled.

Ramaindna silenced.

"I have though no time to explain." Serenity said as she walked towards the exit, "I do though would like to make a suggestion to you."

Ramaindna turned, "What?"

Serenity's eyes glowed again, "One, you don't have any of you're blood in me, is what I'd like to point out. And second, I strongly suggest you stop with your saving the others acts, otherwise then, keep your duty of being a second hand assistant, it'll pay off in the future."

Serenity's markings then glowed even brighter, and her body disappeared from her sight.

Ramaindna sighed, "What next? I mean, what in the world was that creature talking about?"

------------------------

"There they are!" Sonic pointed out.

Misty and Carmen looked ahead to find Shadow and Knuckles coming at them at top speed. Misty bolted forward and tackles Shadow with full force. Sonic glanced at Carmen, but found she wasn't willing to move. He shrugged and bolted forward. Knuckles shifted to his normal form, and struck him with a powerful punch, but were then held by Sonic's hands, forcing Knuckles punch to fly backwards, and nearly collide into Misty and Shadow's fight. Misty swung Shadow around and made the two collide with one another, and both were then normal.

Shadow hissed, and leaped off of Knuckles, and attacked Misty again, shifting to his mutant self. Knuckles though plummeted to the water, his dreadlocks flying to the sides. Carmen saw her chance, and snagged Knuckles just before his body met with the water. Quickly she dragged him up to the Nightstar to drop him off, and for him to be cured.

Misty continued to fight with Shadow, both snapping at one another's body, Shadow mostly aiming for her arm, and Misty willing to take a risk and bite him on the side, means that was where the wound was. Sonic glided over to the two, and helped Misty, grabbing around Shadow's neck, and jerked him backwards; making his clawed hands release Misty. She then lastly, gave Shadow one last kick in the wound.

Shadow didn't screech, but he shifted into his normal form, and passed out instantly. Sonic held onto his waist, and glided towards the Nightstar, followed by Misty. Both landed, and gave Marie Shadow's body. Carmen stood by and watched.

"Now for the wall-hanger." Marie told them, "Make sure you get the shot into his mouth and tentacles."

The three nodded, and bolted onwards to the side. The Nightstar continued straight, leaving the three on their own way. The moment the ship was out of sight, was the moment, Chaos shot upwards, just yards away from their position. All three stumbled backwards in air, and watched as Chaos shifted to its final form.

"This is gonna be a bit difficult." Sonic warned them.

"Not to mention Espio can control my shifting." Misty reminded.

Carmen held her hands behind her head and stared up at Chaos, "Don't forget that Quazaireon could be around."

"So what do we do now?" Misty asked.

Sonic stared up into the center of Chaos, and only noticed a small figure floating around. He knew what they were up to.

"If anything," Sonic stated, "We start from the outside, then give the final shot."

The two nodded diligently.

"Heads!" Misty pointed upwards.

Sonic and Carmen glanced upwards to find balls of ice were headed downward, above their heads. Quickly the three scattered, and took the sides and front. Misty bolted upwards, running up Chaos' stomach, leaving water to rain down behind her. The other two followed her action from the sides, but were at the risk of being slapped by the tentacles.

I'll distract him, while you two reach the top, and blind him! Make sure you blind him well enough he can't see anytime at all. And also remember, whatever affects Chaos, affect Espio! 

The two then knew where she was going, and charged onwards at a faster rate. Misty trailed in the center, and watched Espio's every move as she went up. She then glanced at the surface of Chaos.

"Mah, who am I kiddin', if it works, it'll hurt him."

Misty then spun into a ball, and leaped outwards, then shot back, and pushed herself inside of Chaos' surface.

Espio felt the surface of his lower stomach stab him, and he howled with agony, and Chaos roared following his every move. Carmen and Sonic covered their ears and continued to run upwards.

"Geese, how big can this stupid Chaos get?" Carmen complained, "You'd think we'd be at the top by now."

Carmen then took another look ahead of her, and noticed Chaos' eyes.

"Finally!"

Carmen then bolted faster towards the top, making the trail of water even bigger.

Sonic spotted Carmen running faster, and dittoed her, and bolted faster upwards. Just as the thought of blinding Chaos came in, a large tentacle smacked beside Sonic, and nearly threw him off of the surface. He swiftly caught afoot again and began to curve more to the left. Carmen also did the same, and then both met with one another on top of Chaos Daggered head, on top of the largest quill.

"Guess we past it without knowing it." Carmen mentioned looking down.

"Yeah, big time." Sonic agreed.

Chaos' head then began to rear back, and the two hurriedly clinched Chaos' spine and hung on for the moment, as Chaos let out another roar in pain.

Misty floated around between two layers of watered skin, and tried to figure out how to get out.

"Okay, I got in, now what to do." Misty pondered to herself, "I could use fire, but it'll just be washed up. I could try shifting into an enormous snake deal, and make some more pain between skin and muscle. Or, I should just get out."

Misty thought for a moment, and quickly an idea popped up. She stared at one layer, and then another, then, with the greatest of intention, started to beat against the two layers with full force.

The pain grew worse for the both of Chaos and Espio, and it made life a little harder for Carmen and Sonic, for Chaos' eyes were closed, and they couldn't blind him yet.

"Misty better stop it now otherwise we'll be thrown off and have to start again." Carmen complained.

"But whatever she's doing, it's killin' him a little." Sonic reminded.

Carmen then spotted Chaos' eyes flickered back open, "Sonic! The eyes! They're open!"

"Let's go then!" Sonic yelled over the rumbling sounds of water.

Both dashed and took separate sides, Sonic on the left, and Carmen on the right, and both targeted the eyes, and shot a ball of fire, burning and boiling the eyes. Chaos reared up his head again, and howled with agony, and also applying the same pain to Espio, who was in as much pain.

Misty quickly busted out from under the watered skin, and bolted upwards, catching up with Sonic and Carmen, who were running downwards towards her. All three met, and stopped in the middle of Chaos' stomach.

"Now that we've blinded him, we can now destroy him." Sonic said, "I'll take the head shot, while you two take the tentacles."

"We need to do a running start first if anything." Misty advised.

"Can I also add that Quazaireon's about?" Carmen pointed.

The three looked around and found Quazaireon on top of a building not far from where they stood, staring them down. Beside him, stood the main enemy, or the mastermind, Eggman. He watched and observed their movement, with arms crossed, and his white lab coat flying in the breeze made him look like an ironic madman. Sonic glared, and let out a small growl, and then his mind began to focus on his life.

Sonic felt an intention, intentions for removing the ring, the intention for allowing the blood of Espio's curse run through and take control and killing him. The taste of blood ran through his mouth, his saliva rapidly filled his dry mouth. He then removed the glove the ring was covered by, and placed his hand around the ring. Misty watched his movement, and quickly placed her hand on his arm in resistance.

Sonic looked up at her, and his eyes immediately turned blood red. Misty didn't move, and kept her hand firmly on his arm. She knew his thought, and she knew it would cause more trouble.

"Don't even dare." Misty growled viciously.

"Release me Misty, I know what I'm doing." Sonic stared at her with a deadly grudge, "Do you want to run the risk of getting killed?"

Carmen quickly stretched her hand, and placed it right beside Misty's, "I agree with her on this, don't even try Sonic."

Sonic started to growl a little, "Let me go now…"

Misty blinked, then looked at Carmen, and nodded.

"B-but, Misty! Chaos! Espio!" Carmen shrieked.

"Exactly." Misty said, putting her sight back on Sonic.

Carmen floated with confusion around in her head. Misty glanced at her one last time, and then spun her head around to find Chaos' surface started to ripple.

Misty's eyes then flashed white for a second, then spun to Carmen, "Carmen! Jerk him back! Quick!"

Carmen put her other hand in replacement of Misty's, and yanked Sonic towards her body, and floated backwards to get to the side. Misty bolted the other way, and in the instant, a waterspout from Chaos spurted out and soaked both Misty, and Carmen and Sonic.

Sonic's eyes then turned demon-like, and like before, started attacking Carmen, unsheathing claws from his gloves. Carmen struggled to get him under control, but he only kept snapping at her, nearly ripping her face off.

"MISTY! He's at it again!" Carmen cried out, trying to keep Sonic from getting any closer.

The black hedgehog heard, and bolted at them, and shoved Sonic right off of Carmen, and shoved him into the surface of Chaos, and both quickly were absorbed, and were then underneath Chaos' surface, once again to Misty. Carmen regained her balance, and watched as Misty and Sonic were fist to fist with one another.

"Sonic! Listen to me!" Misty shouted, holding Sonic away from her body, "Fight man! Fight him back! He's trying to control you!"

------------------------

Sonic's body flew backwards, and was smashed against a large boulder nearby, shattering some of the rock's surface. His body then slid down on to the ground, and collapsed with blood trickling down his face from the scars her received. He felt his body slowly fade, trying to get away from suffering anymore damage towards him, and feel free in the heavens. He couldn't allow it, and pushed himself to get up.

A loud roar came out, and another smack of a large tail whipped him across the dirt-filled wasteland that he battled in. He bounced, and rolled several times, like a worthless log, then drifted on the dirt into a skeleton pile of a dead animal, trapping himself inside the ribcage like a prisoner. Sonic lied there, barely able to move, and with blood guttering out, he started to feel lightheaded. He then heard footsteps approach him, changing pace, as the footsteps got lighter. The footsteps then stopped, and only a small breeze made a sound.

"Why…" Sonic husked out, "Why…me…why even…bother…"

A deep laugh echoed into Sonic's ears, "Because, you have no will to live as a hero, you're too weak. Besides, you're killing people."

"You're…the one that's killing…Espio…" Sonic growled, grabbing one of the rib bones to pull his body up.

Espio laughed wildly, "You really think? After I finish you off, you're spirit and soul will be mine, for-EVER!"

Sonic growled, and burst with rage out of the ribcage, and tackled Espio to the ground, and did whatever he could to try and defeat Espio. Pinning him to the ground, he slipped off the ring he wore, and then tore at his chest.

Espio though camouflaged, and escaped from Sonic's grip, and Sonic began to lose control over his mind. His brain felt like it was trying to compress into a tiny ball, and his muscles bulged outwards with great force. His body then landed on the ground, his back buried underneath his body. His chest then split, making his ribcage even bigger, and his abs grew tremendously, large enough, his skin slip open, and his muscles bulged out from underneath.

Espio stood in front of him, his yellow eyes blazing silver, making Sonic's mutation painful, but also making the form powerful, for he needed Sonic to kill Carmen, but to mutate Misty again.

"You're done now Sonic, sayonara!" Espio laughed.

Sonic then ignored the pain, and lost control of his mind. His eyes turned to a glowing red, and he pranced at Espio, attacking wildly and ripping his chest wide open, and began to destroy him.

------------------------

"SONIC!" Misty cried out to him.

Sonic blinked a few times, and his eyes quickly turned to gold again. Misty sighed in relief, now knowing that he was okay.

"What happened?" Sonic asked, removing his hands off of Misty's sides.

"It's a story, but we don't have time!"

Misty grabbed Sonic's arm, then bolted out of Chaos' skin, and maneuvered to Carmen with Sonic following behind. Carmen then bolted downward, leading the two down toward the water, and down toward where Shadow and Knuckles were prepared to strike as they got closer together. Sonic then took lead, yanking his arm out of Misty's grasp, and tackled Shadow down into the water. The two girls then both took on Knuckles, taking every hit to his stomach and sides, avoiding his face so neither is bitten. The Carmen went tumbling downward into the water without warning.

Misty glanced up while holding Knuckles with her fingers right over his pressure point, and seen Quazaireon start to bounce towards her, his feet glowing dark. It was the sign of one of his curses active, means whatever he touched, with any part of him that's black, the curse is placed on them, and is signified with a paw print of his. Misty quickly pressed her fingers into Knuckles neck, forcing him to shift to normal, and tossed him at Quazaireon, making both collide, and allowing her to have time to recover Carmen.

"Gesh! I had enough of recovering people." Misty complained.

Sonic then bolted upwards, with not only Shadow, but Carmen in his arms, and made sure Misty got a good look at both of them. Misty paused, and stared at Sonic with irritation in her eyes.

Sonic smiled, "Hope you didn't mind I got them for ya."

"Can you hold one more?" Misty asked, as she jolted up towards the two, and snatched Knuckles back, and kicked Quazaireon into a nearby building. Quickly then Misty drifted downwards, and floated in front of Sonic with Knuckles floating by her telekinetic ability.

"Um, Sonic?" Carmen's voice perked up.

Sonic glanced down to see Carmen was all right, but he held her with his arms around her top-heavy area. Sonic blinked for a moment, and then released her; Carmen shook her head, and then glanced at the two hedgehogs.

"So, now what?"

Sonic smiled bigger, "Now, for Espio…"

Chaos roared viperously, and the buildings rumbled with the echo. All three stared at one another, but one had the eyes with despair. Sonic and Carmen stared at Misty, keeping their heads turned away from one another, and focused on Misty, who gave Knuckles to Carmen, then floated back to her placement. She closed her eyes, and slouched, with her head down and her smile fade.

"It's all my fault…"

Sonic perked up his ears in alert, "What do you mean it's your fault?"

"I stole Team Chaotix's Emerald, though it was originally mine. I stayed on Angel Island so I could make sure Charmy and Vector were okay, when I had the bad vibe that Eggman stirred. I was the one who made Espio and Knuckles come after me. I was the one who got laid with Sonic. I was the one who ran away and got Espio to be remutated. I was the one who didn't watch Espio carefully, and realize it was Damion who was in the form of Espio. I was the one who killed Damion. I was the one who thought it was Espio that spurted out of the water before Sonic got his ring shattered-"

Sonic then set his hand on her shoulder, "Misty, you're not the one who started this."

Misty glanced up at him.

"I was the one who should've kept the gang more together, even though we all lived in the same area, we weren't living with caution. And I was the one who put the moves on you."

Carmen stood confused, "Can we get on with this?"

The two turned their heads, then looked at one another, and nodded.

Beepbeepbeepbeep "Guys! Do you have Shadow and Knux yet?" Conore's voice asked on the intercom Misty carried.

Misty took out the intercom, and replied calmly, "Yeah, we do."

"Do you see a Toyota Celica at the base of Chaos' body?"

------------------------

Ramaindna walked into the control room, and there sat Eggman, staring out through the side window, staring down at the flooded city. Ramaindna kept silent, and stayed by the doorway, not willing to disturb his silence.

"I just don't understand." Eggman sighed, "It seems like everyday, I've thought of something brilliant, but yet it fails a day later, but this is the longest this has lasted."

"It's because of dramatic change." Ramaindna stated, "Sonic never expected you to jump instantly from machines to mutants, in fact, no one of his group knew."

"That's another thing." Eggman lowered his head, "Why haven't I have thought of this before?"

Ramaindna knew why, she just didn't want to say it.

"It seems like it was in front of my face all this time."

"Would something by the name of Serenity help?" Ramaindna asked him.

Eggman turned his head and stared at her, "Serenity?"

Ramaindna stared back, "You, Dr. Eggman, didn't know? You didn't know there was some sort of chameleon creature on this ship, sitting within one of the capsules? HOW!?"

"I never even heard of Serenity." Eggman said, spinning all the way and faced her, "In fact, nothing rings a bell about anything of Serenity."

"Neither of you know who Serenity is?" Quazaireon walked in from behind Ramaindna.

"You know?" both asked.

"Serenity is one of the sacred guardians of the "ancient pack". She is a time traveler, and a powerful mutant." Quazaireon told them.

Both looked at one another, stunned.

"And not only that!" Quazaireon continued, "Serenity is also the one who _helped_ the creator of the Master Emerald's son defeat Chaos once before. She was also the one who mentioned the Traveling Earthensens idea to the Kiroshioneze of the Light! She was _also_ the one who has protected "the seal"."

Ramaindna's eyes shrunk, "You mean _the _seal?"

"_The_ seal." Quazaireon said again.

"Tell me," Eggman demanded, "What seal?"

Quazaireon was about to speak, until Ramaindna raised her hand, and stopped him from starting. Quazaireon then backed off and sat by the window Eggman stared through, and let her tell Eggman. She then set her hand down, and sighed.

"The seal is the Seal of the RedFlame." She started, "The seal is the mark of forever survival of the RedFlame family, which lies in the Samarias Desert, the desert of which no one was able to come from alive."

Eggman took a seat, and Ramaindna sat on the floor cross-legged, and continued.

"Misty is not just Misty, she is of the RedFlame family. For every one of the RedFlame family is born with a crescent moon scar on their left eye. And, we're born vampires. As long as the seal hasn't been touched by a dark soul, the family will continue on forever. But if so were to happen, the last of the family that still lives would die, and end the bloodline.

"But that's the problem. There's something that is still keeping the family alive, something that none of us know about. Some dark secret the Light has hidden, we don't know what, but all we know is that it's deep. But, the seal has been touched, by _myself_."

"WHAT!" Quazaireon shouted, "Look, I realize it's almost the only way of ending Misty's life, but it'll end your life too!"

Ramaindna then glared at him, her eyes blazed to an instant red.

------------------------

After dropping of Knuckles and Shadow, the three hedgehogs bolted away from Chaos, pushing them to top speed, escaping the vicious waves that tried to take them down. All three dove, leaped, busted through, and blocked every attack that was sent towards them from behind. Misty shifted to her fox form, and dashed across the water with a trail of water spurting up six feet into the air. Sonic and Carmen quickly boosted to catch up with her. Soon the two caught up, and Misty quickly began giving instructions.

"Okay!" Misty started, "Once we get far enough, we're gonna spin right back around, and go as fast as we can. Once Chaos flings his tentacles at us, Sonic, you'll be going past and run up the stomach, take a big leap, and make a blast as Chaos opens his jaws. Carmen and I are both going to jump inside the tentacles, and blast a shot through. All three beams should intersect at Espio's placement. That'll destroy Chaos!"

"But what about Espio?" Carmen asked.

"Then we have to pray he lives." Sonic answered.

"NOW!" Misty called out.

They spun right back around, and bolted the way they came. Quickly they gained speed, and got closer to Chaos with every passing second with the plan embedded in their minds. Sonic took center while in lead, while Carmen and Misty took the sides trailing behind.

As he ran, Sonic began to think for a bit, remembering what Misty had mentioned before. He remembered something about a war. Sonic closed his eyes for a moment, and thought of what could happen, and began asking questions for that moment.

_The war…What will it be like? What are we going to be up against? What is our plan of winning this war? Will we win? How long will it take? Will anything make sense in the future? What we're facing, will it be harder? Will any of this be repeated in a different way? Will anything be answered, like now?_

"Sonic! Jump ahead!" Carmen snapped at him.

Sonic blinked, then looked ahead of his pathway. Chaos was just seconds away just on how fast they went. Quickly he jumped ahead, and sped as fast as he could to go up Chaos' body. He was just feet away, he whipped his feet off of the water, and stepped onto Chaos' surface, and kicked upwards quickly. Behind him, water spurted right at his heels, trying to take him out. He went faster.

Misty and Carmen split apart, matching the two tentacles evenly as they shot downward, and sucked both girls into the lively water. Both knew then, it was time. They gathered the energy, and kept building up the energy, until they felt it was enough. They then released the great balls of energy through the tentacles that spun to Chaos' body.

Sonic noticed the beams, and seen the beams were traveling fast, and found he had no time. He leaped off of Chaos' watery skin as far out as his leap would take him. Chaos spotted him, and let out a final roar the moment before Sonic stuck the beam of silence down his throat.

All three beams intersected right where Misty pointed out, where Espio lingered. The three beams came together, like all the elements tat would combine to make the most powerful element of all. The beams then grew into a large glowing ball, that dilated smaller, then exploded outwards, spreading through Chaos' body, to a hot white.

------------------------

"Holy crap!" Tails pointed out.

Everyone was still at the sight of seeing Chaos' body shatter like glass, and wondered if Espio survived. If he did, all hope will be regained again, and the war they'll face will be with everyone there, unharmed. If not, then it could be a road of terror, for Espio might have carried a secret that could be their key to success.

------------------------

Ramaindna, Quazaireon, and Eggman watched Chaos die, and didn't bother showing any emotion, for they sort of figured, with Misty and the rest by Sonic's side, they'll win. Eggman slapped his hands on the metal computer desk, and sighed deeply, unable to believe what happened.

"I don't believe it." Eggman stressed, "Sonic defeated Chaos again."

"Only because of Misty." Ramaindna reminded him, "If you want to win over Sonic, Misty is really our only way. She though isn't easy to catch."

"Eggman." Quazaireon spoke, "You do realize that tomorrow's the actual start? For both sides."

Eggman spun around.

"He is right." Ramaindna nodded.

Quazaireon then spotted a scratch mark on her shoulder, "What happened?"

"Nothing, just a piece of metal scraped me." Ramaindna lied.

------------------------

Sonic descended downward, staring at where Chaos used to be, as glittering light from the waters sprinkled down on his face. He blinked as he stared, finally feeling the feel of accomplishment. He sighed deeply, his mind now at ease again. He stopped descending and hovered by Carmen for a moment. She then quickly took off, and Sonic quickly trailed her.

"We did it Sonic!" Carmen shouted with excitement.

"I know! We did it! We finally killed Chaos." Sonic smiled.

They quickly flew over the buildings, and towards the Nightstar, where everyone was out, cheering for them. The two landed, and shifted to their normal forms, and walked forward with proud in their eyes. Everyone scampered over and cheered them, and to praise them for taking care of Chaos. Amy wildly tackled Sonic and kissed him left and right. Alexis, and Carmen stared face to face, and hugged one another in appreciation.

"Hey! Where's Misty?" Aaron spoke up.

"Yeah! And Espio!" Charmy shouted.

Everyone then silenced, and looked at the two as they got up.

Sonic's eyes shrunk, he totally forgot Misty and Espio.

"Oh no…" Sonic paused.

"Don't tell me." Carmen faced him.

Sonic spun around and scanned where Chaos once stood, and seen no sign of Misty or Espio around, for his heart dropped like glass, and shattered, still in shock. The wind kicked in a little, making some sound, but not enough to say there's life. Sonic fell to his knees, his eyes still staring at the particular spot.

"Eeeespiooooo!!!" Charmy cried out.

His young voice only echoed, and nothing came back in return.

Charmy tried again, "EESPIOOO!!!"

Nothing.

Conore stood, and then shifted to his werefox form, ran to the corner of the building, cupped his hands, and let out a loud wolf howl for Misty. Aaron also shifted and joined with Conore, and both howled for Misty and Espio. Their howls sung across the buildings and waters, tracking down their bodies anywhere near.

They then stopped, and listened, nothing came. Both then shifted to normal, and walked back to the others.

"They're gone." Conore sighed, "They're both dead."

Charmy then cried his heart out, and rushed into Vector's arms horrified. Lighter, Canaras, Marie, and Mellony all stood in shock, mouths open, and stunned. None of them expected Misty to die with Espio. Rouge let down a tear, for she was thankful that Misty came around to help them guys out, and Espio was a good challenge towards her, but he always won every match they took on with one another.

The red echidna, Knuckles, was the worst, for he landed on his knees, bowed his head, and slammed his hands on the ground. Tears ran down his face like tainted waterfalls filled with fury and depression. He couldn't believe his best friend died, not as a ninja, but as a blood-craved, evil mutant. This shredded his heart to slim pieces, and his chest began to hurt because of the loss.

"_Knuckles, no matter what happens to me, you know how long we've been friends."_

That was what Espio said before he was stabbed and mutated. He remembered well how long they've been friends, and he knew well.

Tails watched Knuckles drown in his tears, and glanced upwards to see the city's sky slowly clear ahead of him, and then saw something white jump over one of the buildings.

"Huh?"

He stared at the area he seen the white blue, and saw it again, as it ran across the building's top, and jumping downwards, leaving a blue flame behind it, that later blew out.

"Oh my god!!!" Tails shouted, "It's them! They're alive!!!"

Everyone looked up, Knuckles pulled up his head and watched where everyone was looking, and couldn't believe his eyes.

"They're probably wondering while we were gone if we were dead." Misty said, running across a building top.

Espio, fully restored, held on to Misty's white fur, and rode on her back as they jutted across the watery ruins. 'Yeah, but it's good to be back!"

Misty smiled in happiness.

_I never knew it would take so long to get Espio, I expected it to be a challenge, but how much…_

_We'll, I must say, Espio's lucky to be alive, in fact, he should've been killed, or should've lived on as a mutant…_


	25. Knuckles Last Despaired Memory

**Chapter 25: **

**Knuckles Last Despaired Memory**

Everyone was shocked at their return, both in one piece, and both fully restored. As Misty came to a halt, Espio leaped off, and Charmy swung over and tackles Espio down, squeezing him like a plushy plush toy. Everyone ran over and hugged both Misty and Espio with happiness, and squeeze them both.

"Ack! Choking!" Misty cried out as Vector hugged her.

"Misty! Don't do that again!" Carmen pointed a finger at her.

"It ain't my fault I had to drag him out of the water." Misty argued.

"Hey man!" Lighter spoke, "We don't need arguments now, look! Espio's now back to normal!"

Misty smiled, and shifted to her hedgehog form, "Well, I guess he owes me one."

Espio stared at Misty with astonishment, "The white fox that stole the Chaos Emerald is a hedgehog?"

Misty grinned, "A shape shifting hedgehog."

Espio stood back on his feet, and looked her up and down, confused. Misty then walked over, and gave Espio a kiss on the cheek, leaving a little wetness. Espio blushed, embarrassed, and unsure of why Misty did so.

"Oooooooh! Espio's gotta girlfriend!" Charmy laughed.

"Shut up Charmy." Espio growled.

Sonic then decided to play around.

"Oooooooh! Espio's in loooove! He's gonna love Misty, and kiss her and marry her and have kids!" Sonic toyed.

Espio then grew irritated, spun around, about to say shut up to Sonic, until he felt his side stretch out a little. It hurt, so he closed is eyes.

"YIKE!" Sonic shouted, and then the sound of something hard and metal made a clinging sound.

"Te heck! Espio's _still_ a flippin' mutant!" Yorker shouted.

Espio opened his eyes, and looked at Sonic, who was sitting on his behind, looking up at what was one of the serpents Espio had as a mutant.

"I thought this was done and over with!" Sonic cried out.

Misty pinched the skin of the serpent, and Espio cried out in pain, for the pinch to him was hell. The serpent then released the Nightstar, and shrunk back into Espio's skin, and disappeared.

"That was creepy." Tails said, hiding behind Shadow.

Misty glanced up, and stared at Espio for a short moment. Espio also glanced up, but seemed to form a devious look in his face after a short time. At that instant, Misty tackled him to the ground, and the two started to fight.

"Hey man! What are ya doin'?" Knuckles complained.

"He's…" Misty started off, but got punched, "still flippin' controlled!"

The guys came up and tried to break the two apart, but both would snap at them, and Misty told them to back off and let her handle it. Gripping one another with their unsheathed claws, started to bite one another, and bit furiously. Misty unsheathed her fangs, and bit into Espio's neck, and started to drain him dry. Espio though rolled themselves both over, and pinned Misty down underneath the Nightstar. Misty had blood dripping from her mouth down the side of her cheek, and both stared at one another. Espio stared though with a crave lurking within him.

"How would you know I was even controlled by?" Espio said smirking.

"I know…" Misty growled.

"Would you two get out from under there?!" Sonic hollered, "This is no time for a fight!"

The two ignored him.

"Even if I wasn't…" Espio said, slipping his hand by her cheek, "It would be a bad idea to have attacked me."

_Keep talking, and you'll get it…_ Misty thought.

"Besides…" Espio brought his face closer to hers, "This isn't over, and you're still mine."

"Try to convince me…" Misty growled more.

Espio then held Misty's cheek, and kissed her, his tongue slipping into her fang filled mouth, and slipping his hands to her sides, and held her. Misty found her chance.

She bit his tongue, and he let out a short yelp of pain, she then released it, and she used her knee, running it into him. The next move was shoving him from underneath the Nightstar, right before Sonic and his friends, who was bleeding from the neck. Misty then rushed out in her fox form, and pinned him down, making his stomach stayed on the ground.

"Marie!" She hollered.

Marie ran over, and held Espio's head down, as he snarled and snapped at the two. Knuckles lowered his head in annoyance, "I thought defeating Chaos would cure him."

"That's what we thought." Amy commented.

"I guess we had to do more." Shadow stated, leaning against the Nightstar, behind Espio.

Espio's eyes quickly turned snake like, and a serpent jumped from his skin, and nearly bit Misty's leg. She kept herself on his back, and pinned down the serpent by the head, and held the horn on it in between her toes.

"Hurry up or he'll kill me!" Misty started to panic.

Marie finally got what she was looking for, and unveiled it from her necklace, took the injection, and stabbed it into Espio's wound on the neck. Only a grunt was made, then Espio was quickly knocked out for a few. Misty slowly lifted her paw from the serpent, and it stretched back into Espio's skin, and vanished like the other time. Misty then leaped off of Espio's stood by Sonic.

"Bastard." Misty growled again.

"No kidding, just by what we all seen." Rouge said, crossing her arms.

"Well, how do we cure him?" Vector questioned.

No one spoke a word.

Everyone watched as Espio lied there, nearly lifeless. Knuckles couldn't tolerate the fact he could die any moment, and walked to his body, and sat on his knees beside him. He then grabbed his hand, and held it between his two hands, gripping it lightly, but tight enough to hold it. He kept his head low, but looked at Espio with fret.

He began to remember what their discussion back on the ship was, which was basically his and Espio's last before Espio mutated, and turned against him.

"_Knuckles, no matter what happens to me, you know how long we've been friends." _Knuckles remembered Espio's words,_ "Don't let Eggman get to you, what he's doing will only be once, he'll never do it again, he a bastard, a no good crook. Just let him take my life."_

"_Espio no! You will not let him take your life, you're already in his hands, and you need to fight back, you hate him! I won't let you just step down and let him turn you into something that'll go against us, I won't!" _Knuckles remembered that very well, for he tried to convince him to not surrender.

"_Knux, just let him, it's you that must get out of here, you need to find help, and it's you that must save yourself and others, but it's not you that must get me out of this, this is my own thing to handle."_

"_No it isn't! Right now you maybe weak, but you need to fight back, please Espio, don't let yourself go like this."_

"_I can't, this time, he won over me, and I must accept the fact."_

"_Don't even Espio! You're one of my friends and I won't let you!"_

"_Let it be Knux, let him take me." _Knuckles remembered Espio nearly died that moment, and tried to keep him alive, and it worked.

"_Espio! Don't you dare leave me you understand, remember, you hate Eggman more than anything! Don't let him win, if you even gave yourself a chance, just one bitching chance…"_

"_Times up my friends."_ That was the time that Eggman was going to officially nearly kill Espio himself, only he didn't, he mutated him.

"Espio, fight! Don't even think about giving in!" 

"_Just do what I told you Knux, just do it, please, for me, for your friends that care, leave me be." _He remembered how faintly Espio held his wrists, it was almost as if he wasn't even holding them.

He then remembered how Eggman just stole Espio away from him, like a little kid and his plushy. He stole him away so fast; Knuckles didn't get the chance to fight Eggman back. How Eggman stabbed the injection into Espio. How Espio cried out. How he nearly died from shock, in front of Knuckles' very own eyes. He started to cry, just by remembering this.

"_No! Espio!"_

Knuckles then remembered how long it took for Espio to regain his consciousness, and was able to sit up for at least a minute, before he mutated.

_"Espio?" _

_"Espio, are you alright?"_

"_Knux, just stay away." _

"_Espio, please, are you alright?" _

"Just stay…away" 

He then thought of how Espio's body began to tense up, for the injection raided his body, and made every muscle in his carcass ache, and bulge.

"_Espio! Fight! Fight the mutation! Fight the damn mutation!" Knuckles hollered._

"_I…can't!" Espio cried out, "I can't fight it, it's… it's…"_

It was then the moment of despair, when Espio's voice cracked and turned into a roaring screech, it was the end of Espio's soul existing. And, the moment Knuckles let go of Espio, because of the dark and evil claws that pricked his gloved and skin, was the moment, Knuckles, by force, had to watch the real Espio die. The way he struggled, the way the squirmed, the way his chest kept being pushed into the air because of the muscles puffed and broaden all around him. It was the moment of failure to Knuckles, and a moment of darkness towards Espio.

"Knuckles…" Misty spoke, "Um, he's not waking, up, in fact, he never will."

Knuckles lifted his head and turned to Misty, who stood by Sonic in her hog form, but with disgrace in her eyes. It was a disgrace that she had experienced many times, but in different ways. She had the look in her face, as if ready to cry for Knuckles, and to sit, and beg for Espio's recovery. But, it was worse in her mind.

Misty lowered her head, and let down a tear in her eyes, "He's dead…"

Everyone gasped, turned, and looked at Misty, as if she was the one to blame. Sonic remembered how Marie was in it, and looked around. Marie, Hikarari, and all the rest of Misty's friends were gone. He grunted, now angered by their retreat, for they left without warning, and didn't even bother leaving without notice.

Knuckles' face turned white, and his heart was shattered.

Misty sniffed, "In fact, when he mutated a second time, back when Sonic, you and I were with him, his soul and essence died, leaving an evil spirit in him. So he's been dead this whole entire time, we risked our lives basically only to recover his lifeless body."

Charmy instantly started crying, he just fell to his knees, and cried his heart out. Vector also let down a few tears, and hugged Charmy, trying to tell him it'll be okay. Knuckles stared at Misty as if she killed him, and turn his head towards Espio, and slammed his body over him, grasping his motionless body, and howled with pain, his one and only true friend, had been taken away from him. He buried his head into Espio's chest, begging for Espio to spring back to life, to be alive forever, to be with him till the end, not until his end. He cried, and wished he died with him.

Sonic then turned to Misty, who was letting down tear after tear, "Why are you crying?"

"I remember…" Misty sniffed, "I remember, many years ago. Espio. He was a buddy of mine in one of our ninja classes, after I made it out of a trap alive. I was a new student…"

"You knew Espio?" Charmy whipped some of her tears.

"We were the best of friends…" Misty lightened up a little, "The moment I walked into the class was the moment we seen eye to eye. And that started our friendship."

Knuckles slowly lightened up, but kept his head buried in Espio's chest, and listened to Misty's story.

"I caught up with the class quickly, and I aced it like there was no tomorrow. And I'd help Espio with his training. A year later, our class was to come to an end, and I told him how I really felt."

Knuckles turned his head to Misty.

"Though I was about twelve, I had a deep feeling towards him, and as we walked out of our school, I walked up to him, and told him that he was the one friend I would never forget. I then told him…I loved him…"

"You…you loved him?" Shadow grew irritated.

"When I told him that, he stared at me as if I was crazy," Misty sighed, "But, he thought about it, and gave me a strong kiss, and then, we went our separate ways, keeping one another in our thoughts forever."

Knuckles stood up, "So that why he said he didn't want to love, it was because of you."

"There was one thing I gave to him," Misty lowered her head, "I gave him a power I thought wouldn't be used in a million years, but, come to shock, he's used it quite a few times."

"Which is?" Shadow glared at her, jealous.

"I can't say it…" Misty said, glaring back at Shadow, deadly poised.

"Why not?" Vector said, picking up Charmy from the ground.

"It determines whether I live or not." Misty said, her voice growing a bit deeper.

Everyone looked at one another.

Sonic stared at her, "If he's dead, then wouldn't you?"

Misty kept silent.

Sonic turned his head away from her, and looked at Knuckles with sorrow eyes, who still sat by his long lost friend Espio, who lied on the ground, dead.

_The story I told, it was true, I had a large crush on Espio back then, and I was surprised to see him again…_

_Knuckles, I knew, wouldn't know this came, though, I'd thought I would tell him sooner, than him finding out for himself. And I'm sorry._

_And, I won't die, that's a secret never to be revealed…_


	26. It's Not Over

**Chapter 26:**

**It's Not Over**

Everyone stood in silence for a long time, and during that time, Carmen and Alexis took off elsewhere, leaving everyone else to still stand around the deceit. Sonic began to pace back and forth, still confused about what the power Misty gave to him in the past was. But not only that, he felt there was something funny around, like something's out of place.

It was answered that very second.

"Nirinia!" Sonic heard Misty speak out.

Sonic and the others spun around, and were nearly blinded by the glow of bright light that flashed upon them. After it settled a bit, everyone saw a golden female hedgehog stand in front of the group. The golden treasures she held on her head, wrists, and her wardrobe shone brightly, with different colored jewels that depicted to be ancient. The hedgehog too, had golden eyes.

"I'm surprised by your face off." She spoke fluently, "I though knew you all would come through."

"Who are you?" Knuckles lifted his head, "And, not all of us came through."

"If only you'd listened." She smiled, "Espio, I presume."

Everyone spread apart, allowing the gold hedgehog to walk in between and stand by the chameleon's body. Knuckles though didn't budge.

"I understand you're hurt," she said, kneeling to him, "but trust me of what I'm about to do."

Knuckles looked at her with some peace in his eyes, and decided to step back, for some reason, he felt like this was a once in a lifetime deal, and whatever she's about to do, it'll be the last.

"People, start to pray." Misty said, lowering her head and putting her hands together.

Everyone stared at her like she was crazy again, but Charmy, who was saved by her, was loyal, and bowed his head, and closed together his hands. Vector noticed his action, and did the same, followed by Rouge, Amy, Tails, Conore, and Aaron. It was then next Shadow, Knuckles, Cream and Cheese, and lastly, Sonic. Everyone bowed their head, closed their eyes, and sealed their palms together, and prayed for Espio's revival to health. Again, silence was upon them all.

Nirinia let a sly smile crease her face as she glanced at the group, and then began the ritual. She let loose her arms, and light began to swirl around her, and she too closed her eyes, and from what Sonic heard, something like a prayer, or a spell.

"By the sun shall he live, and by the moon shall he turn. Both peace and light shall flow down from the skies of above where heaven lives. May this soulless body regain back what was destroyed, and be recovered not by force of power, but of love from us all. Revive this creature with the knowledge that he's not alone. And let him dance across a thousand years without harm."

Sonic blinked, "A thousand years? Without harm?"

Before he could look up to see the golden hedgehog, she was gone in an instant, and Espio was still on the ground motionless, but with leftover glows from what must have been the cure. Sonic shook his head, then stared, then glanced down at a puddle of water below him. He noticed that the gold eyes were still there, this was sorta a good thing, and a bad thing to him.

The eyes of light will live within you forever… 

Sonic jumped, hearing the familiar voice of the gold hedgehog. He spun around, seeing everyone was just lifting heads up slowly and easy. Misty though was displeased, she knew what Sonic was doing, not praying. Sonic shrugged at Misty, but she only sighed in return.

Knuckles knelt back down beside Espio's body, and set a hand on his shoulder, wondering if what the golden hedgehog did even worked.

"Espio…" Knuckles said faintly.

Everyone stood in silence, for a long time. It was Charmy that first noticed a twitch in Espio's foot.

"Espio?" Charmy perked up.

The group looked over at Charmy, then back at Knuckles and Espio. Knuckles picked up his head and stared at Charmy for a second, then watched Espio, who then suddenly disappeared in front of his eyes.

"ACK!" Tails shouted.

"Hey man! Where did he go?" Sonic complained.

Everyone started to complain, Knuckles sprang up and looked around, calling out to Espio, and so did everyone else that heard him as they complained. Misty was the only one though that was smiling at the red echidna, and snickered.

"What are you laughin' at you blackhead!" Knuckles growled.

"Behind you." Misty smiled.

The group silenced, and Knuckles spun around, and found himself on the ground the next second. He smacked his head on the pavement, and felt something holding him down on the wrists and on the stomach. He blinked a few times, allowing time for his vision to clear. His eyes then set on the figure that had its head right above his.

"You okay man?" The familiar voice asked him.

Knuckles seen the mouth move, and his sight cleared more, and found Espio was alive and well.

"Espio you jackass!" Knuckles growled, "Scare the flippin' crap out of us why don't ya!"

Espio smiled, "It works too."

Knuckles broke out of Espio's grip, and put his hands on Espio's shoulders, and the two began to wrestle like wild dogs over a female.

"Well, at least we know he's okay now." Vector said greatly.

"I still think there's something funny though." Aaron mentioned.

Conore sighed.

"Humph." Shadow grunted.

Misty poked Shadow, "Come on now. Be happy. Rouge!"

"What?" Rouge turned her head.

"Give Shadow a hug!" Misty smiled.

"What?" Shadow blinked.

Before he could catch her in the act, Rouge flew over, and tackled him to the ground, and Shadow struggled against Rouge's grip, but was then hugged by her, feeling her chest up against his cheeks, he then settled down, and let her hug on him.

"Misty you blackhead!" Conore slapped his forehead, "what next?"

"Hey Espio!" Amy called to him, "How do you know Misty?"

Both Knuckles and Espio stopped, and Espio stood up, his face looking like it was in paralysis. Knuckles also stood up, and brushed his body off after the small playful fight.

"I don't think he remembers _that_ far back." Misty said, walking up by Sonic.

"Wait…" Espio stood in pause, "Misty…how does that ring a bell?"

"Misty told us how you two met a some sort of ninja class." Sonic stated.

"Yeah! And you both admitted to each other you like one another too!" Charmy reminded.

Everyone spun towards Charmy.

"Isn't that what you said Misty?" Charmy asked her, scratching the back of his head.

Misty sighed and walked up to Espio, "It's me, Misty, the black hedgehog that said…"

There was a short pause.

"The black hedgehog that said…um…" Misty took a deep breath, "I love you?"

Espio's face turned red in amazement.

"Well?" Shadow asked, now hugging Rouge, his face still rubbing against her chest.

Espio looked down on the ground, "Misty…Misty RedFlame…"

"He remembers…sadly." Conore rolled his eyes.

"You're not too fond of him are you Consey?" Aaron glared over.

"Not really."

Espio looked back up at Misty, "Y-you were the one that saved my life."

"Well, yeah." Misty blinked a few times, "Where though?"

"Are you testing him?" Amy asked a bit annoyed.

Misty ignorantly flipped her off from behind.

"Ouch!" Tails said, snickering a little.

"Shut up!" Amy growled.

Espio nodded, "An underground lab."

Misty smiled, "You do then."

"Come one! Can we go now?" Charmy asked impatiently.

"Oh keep quiet Charmy." Vector told him.

Misty nodded, "He's right, we should go."

Misty turned away from Espio, and walked away into the crowd. Espio was left standing with his cheeks brightly red, he remembered greatly whom she was, and he had a crush on her when she came to the school back then. He stared at her as she walked, and couldn't' help but lower his sight just a bit.

"Espio. You okay man?" Knuckles voice rang in.

Espio shook his head, and then looked at Knuckles still with his cheeks red, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Knuckles stared at him for a moment, and then a smile creased his face, "You have the hots for her, don't ya?"

Espio blushed more, "Well…"

Knuckles smiled even bigger, "You think she has a hot sexy ass, and you like it!"

Misty spun around, "I got a new nickname for ya, hun."

Both Espio and Knuckles looked over at Misty.

"Which one?" Knuckles asked.

"Next to you Knux." Misty smiled, "You're Horny."

"BURN!" Sonic laughed, "Burn burn burn burn!"

Espio stood with a blank expression.

"You don't quite get it do you?" Knuckles laughed a little.

"No." Espio blushed.

"Horny? Think about it Espio."

Espio stood for another moment, still clueless. Misty turned and smiled, and then walked back over to him, "You'll eventually get it."

Espio smiled, "Right, remind me later."

"Once we start talkin', you'll understand what the real world's about."

Misty then took Espio's cheek and kissed it lightly, then walking off. Again, Espio slipped his sight downward. Knuckles glanced over, and nudged Espio, just to get him distracted. Espio blinked a few times, and then looked at Knuckles, who smiled at him.

"Welcome back bud." Knuckles said, holding out his arms, demanding a hug.

"Thanks." Espio nodded, and both gave one another a man hug. Charmy then leaped and hugged Espio from behind.

"HUG!" Charmy shouted.

Vector then wandered over and hugged the whole group with his large arms.

"Not just a hug." Knuckles laughed, "A Team Chaotix hug!"

"It's not complete though." Vector stopped him.

The other watched, as the group was one big glob of friend hugging on one another. Sonic couldn't help but laugh a little. But Conore and Aaron were already headed towards the ship behind them.

Vector waved Misty over, "Misty's part of the team now, so she should be in this."

Misty blushed, "I'm honored."

Vector released one arm that let a pathway to Espio, and she ran over and hugged on Charmy and Espio, then was over powered by Vector, who squeezed everyone that was in his arms. Then they all heard the others to their left laughing hysterically at them.

A loud crashing sound echoed in a distance, and everyone quickly silenced. The sound was like more of a boom than a crash, a boom that said something's still alive.

"The heck was that?" Sonic questioned.

Espio broke from the group, and stepped towards a ledge to his right, and stared out at the city, he seen nothing. He closed his eyes and listened, he heard no more. And as he breathed, he only smelled the smell of rain, so nothing again. He stood confused.

"Espio?" Knuckles called to him.

He didn't move.

"I wonder if it has anythi-" Sonic then paused.

"What?" Rouge looked at the blue hedgehog.

Sonic blinked, "Where's Eggman?"

"He's gone!" a familiar dark voice rose up.

All of their heads spun towards the north, where the dark and evil Quazaireon stood, his faced scared up.

"What in heaven's name happened to you mutt?" Shadow growled.

Quazaireon ignored the comment, "He's flown off somewhere, and I suggest you don't go chasing after him…it might be the last thing you do."

"How so?" Espio growled.

He then felt a hand slap on his shoulder, he took a quick glance and seen it was Misty.

"Easy Espio." Misty said lightly.

"You basically…" Quazaireon growled, "Be damn happy that I told you." The black creature then paused, then grinned, "Instead, in payment that I told you…"

Quazaireon's eyes flashed a light purple, and Espio's muscles immediately began to ache, as if they were about to bust out of his skin. The pain grew all over him, and he couldn't take it. He started to float, for that was still Quazaireon's work in play.

A dark purple aurora highlighted his body, as his chest rose up and down because of the amount of pressure in his body. He howled, as he clinched his fists, and closed his eyes tightly, the pain still unbearable.

The black creature then released Espio, and Espio was thrown onto the ground towards the other side with great force. Espio slid almost to the other end, and felt his whole body still aching.

But then a strange feeling came up, like hunger, hunger for something he lusts for.

Vector began snarling with anger, "You little-"

"I know at least one of you will figure out what has been done." Quazaireon grinned.

"What did you do! You damn blackhead!" Conore snapped, about ready to shift to his were-fox form.

"The Lust Curse." Quazaireon laughed, "The lust of your life."

Quazaireon then sprang off the side, and disappeared.

Knuckles shook his fist, "Ooooh! Wait till I get my bare hands on the mutt's damn neck!"

"KNUCKES! LOOK OUT!" Charmy cried out.

Knuckles turned on his heel, and then felt a tremendous amount of force hit his shoulders, and nearly was pushed off over the side of the building, but luckily, his head hit the wall. He then felt claws pierce through his shoulders. He looked up, and found Espio, with the creepiest looks on his face. The look of a crazy man, the look that said he lusted for something, and he's about to die if he doesn't get it. Knuckles heart skipped a beat from the facial look.

Conore, Aaron, Shadow, Sonic, and Vector then grabbed a hold of Espio's waist, and tried pulling Espio off of Knuckles as hard as they could. Knuckles though cried out in pain, for the claws wrapped around his collarbone, and was digging in further.

"Stop yanking on him! You'll kill Knuckles faster than you'll get Espio off of him!" Misty yapped.

They ignored her, and the two fox friends shifted to their ware forms, and pulled harder, ten times harder.

Espio then finally gave in and released Knuckles, the claws scrapping the collarbone, and making the four that pulled fall backwards and roll in different directions. Espio rolled backwards and landed right on top of Aaron's stomach, and with a quick jolt, he attacked Aaron.

"Ahhh! Get him off! Get him off! Get him ooooff!" Aaron howled.

The other three then quickly ran over to Aaron, but Misty, Rouge, and Amy ran over to Knux, who lied on the ground bleeding to death.

"Hold on Knux!" Amy cried to him.

Misty slid, and slapped her hands on Knuckles wounds, and distracted to heal him by her power as her healing emerald glowed.

"Rouge! We need you now!" Sonic hollered to her.

Rouge glanced up, and seen Espio being held by Conore, Vector, and Sonic, who all held him by the arms and a leg. She ran over and snagged the other leg, and the four held him until Aaron got back on his feet.

"Damn man! He's like a flippin magnet! A man eatin' magnet with spikes!" Aaron spoke.

"Just get over her and snag Espio's head!" Conore directed him.

"Hell no!" Aaron rebelled, "I ain't touchin' his damn head until he's dead!"

Conore rolled his eyes.

"Let him go!" Misty said standing up.

"WHAT? Are you insane?" Sonic hollered.

"Just make sure he comes towards me!" Misty directed, moving away from Knux, who's almost fully healed.

"I have a bad feeling about this!" Vector said irritated.

"Sonic, Rouge," Conore started giving orders, "when I say now, you drop the legs, then Vector, when I say now again, we'll shove Espio towards Misty, and we back up as fast as we can."

Aaron stood with concern, "Are you sure about this Misty?"

She nodded, "I know what Quazaireon's curse was, so yes."

"Now!" Conore shouted.

Sonic and Rouge quickly dropped Espio's lower half of the body, and ran behind Aaron as a bodyguard. Espio quickly then gripped the ground, and slipped right through Conore and Vector's hands.

"Heads!" Sonic warned.

Misty kept her position, and as Espio leaped towards her, hissing, she held up her arm, and made sure Espio bit her arm, instead of her face. The force though made her tip, and he began nibbling her from stomach to head.

"God damn it Espio! Pick a spot!" Misty complained.

The others stared, Sonic then stepped from behind Aaron, "Shoulder we help her?"

"NO!" Misty declined, "Keep a five feet radius away from moi, until Espio stops nibbling all over me!"

Espio then lastly bit Misty's left shoulder, and stopped there, his craziness calming down as he sucked on Misty's blood. Knuckles sat up to see what happened, and was very confused as he seen Espio suck on Misty's shoulder with his eyes closed.

"Finally…ow." Misty sighed.

"Hey!" Yorker's voice called out from the Nightstar to the south.

They turned their heads.

"Hey! We need to head back to Night City." Yorker said, "We need to fix this big time. And you'll be walking on foot from here to there."

"That's a five day trip." Conore said, "What about you?"

"I'm teleporting this to the garage." Yorker said, punching in something on his wristband, "I'm also calling up the others, Skye, YangYang, Lighter, Canaras, Topaz, and possibly, Night."

"Night…" Conore growled.

"Who's Night?" Amy asked walking up by the others, surrounding Misty and Espio.

"Night Skylight. He was one of the few that originally made the Nightstar team." Aaron told, "He later then became a traitor and…well, kinda went against us."

"Not by much though." Yorker said, walking to the group, "Though he is a great mechanic, he just has a few issues, especially ones from his past."

"He tried getting Lighter to break with me to go with him once." Misty growled, "I'll never forgive him for it either."

"Enough though. I'll be at the garage." Yorker entitled.

"Go then, don't call Night just yet though." Conore reminded.

Yorker nodded, and the ship and the fox's body disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

"Well…now what?" Charmy asked.

Sonic stood up, "Once Espio snaps from this craving, we'll start our walk to Night City."

"Done and done." They all nodded.

_One thing's for sure, Quazaireon wasn't going to let us out even if we didn't ask about Eggman, but really, where was he?_

_Well, this ends my say, for, from this point, it varies, and I dun think we'll be going on an easy road either…_

_Espio now though, is forever, a cursed, and a blood lusting mutant. No longer can he be considered a normal chameleon…_

**Epilogue**

_As one of the heavens, nothing is new, and nothing is old, but something is always a disappointment. That one moment though, the moment I had with the chameleon, I'd never thought I'd be able to do it again in all eternity, but what is done is done._

_Sonic and his friends now shall proceed onward; onward to Night City, where not only does some peace come, but more risky dangers. And those risky dangers alone, may actually slow them down, and may lose one. Eggman though, I know, won't be disturbed until the Day of Old Returning._

_I pray that as their journey begins, they learn more and more about what is happening. Now, I have a face-to-face talk, with the Dark, means war, may occur, tonight…_

**THE END OF S.A.K.A. #1: CHAOS OF ONE **

**NEXT: #2 THE WAR BEGINS**

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Well... X3, I'm finished with this at last! Thank you for reading, and I'm DEEPLY sorry that this took so many chapters to end the story, but that's how it'll be with alot of my Sonic stories. I plan on making the revisions later, but right now, deal with em. i got Driver's Ed to take care of lol!

Again, thank you all for reading, much appreciation, and if you would please, please review The next one will be posted very soon...

---MTH


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